FULLERTON, Calif. _ Seven people were arrested at California State, Fullerton on Tuesday night during tense protests on campus as conservative firebrand Milo Yiannopoulos spoke on campus.
At least two arrests were the result of a scuffle between left-wing protesters and right-wing counter-protesters, said university spokesman Jeff Cook. It's unclear what led to the other arrests.
Early on, police intervened when someone in the crowd, which included about 50 protesters and one Yiannopoulos supporter, shot pepper spray into the air, said Capt. Scot Willey of the university's Police Department. It's unclear who used the pepper spray, or why. One woman sought treatment from fire officials.
Confrontations and profanity-laced shouting matches broke out later in the evening. Just before 7 p.m., a protester threw a water bottle at someone wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat. One woman wearing a black helmet and mask urged protesters to break into the Yiannopoulos event and beat him up.
Bianca Turano, who identified herself as conservative, showed up to the protest with her father to call out right-wing agitators making racist or hateful comments. The pair said they support President DonaldTrump, but not Yiannopoulos or hate speech.
"We're here to confront them about what they're doing," Turano, 23, said of right-wing instigators. "They're really bullies."
Her father, John Turano, agreed.
"We're here to harass the patriots on my team," he said.
Students hosting a nearby "Unity Block Party" on the campus quad were peaceful. The event, which ended about 7:20 p.m., featured speakers from the LGBTQ community, as well as immigrants.
Yiannopoulos is calling his appearance, which began at the Titan Student Union around 6 p.m., "Halloqueen Night."
University police were out in force on campus, with extra officers on hand from several agencies. Helicopters hovered over campus. Those waiting to get into the venue had to go through security screenings, including metal detectors, Cook said.
Some students were surprised when they heard Yiannopoulos was coming to campus.
"I was personally shocked and kind of offended because this campus has so many minorities," said Alia Abuelhassan, 21. "White privilege took over."
Tuesday's event marked the first college-speaking appearance in the U.S. since Yiannopoulos' highly touted "Berkeley Free Speech Week" was scheduled in late September. That event fell apart because of disorganization even as Yiannopoulos blamed UC Berkeley officials for trying to prevent him and a cohort from coming to campus.
The Halloween appearance is being opposed by a group of students who say Yiannopoulos is a purveyor of hate speech.
"I'm confident there will be voices of opposition outside the venue later today," Jeffrey Cook, a spokesman for the school, said in an email. A Change.org petition in opposition to the event has gained more than 5,000 supporters.
"We call on admin to block any attempts to bring these hateful leaders to campus. ... Hate speech to incite violence and threaten the lives of students is not the same as free speech of diverse opinions," the petition from the Students for Quality Education reads.
Yiannopoulos is arranging a number of cross-country speaking engagements that he calls his "Troll Academy Tour." After several events were announced, including stops at San Diego State and California State, Bakersfield, they were canceled for a variety of reasons.
In a text to a Los Angeles Times reporter last month, Yiannopoulos said, "Naturally, I'll be visiting a lot of colleges in California. It's the craziest state of all."
The 32-year-old previously worked as the tech editor of Breitbart News and has sought out controversy at every turn. An early supporter of President Trump, he lambastes political correctness and last year was banned from Twitter for harassing "Ghostbusters" and "Saturday Night Live" star Leslie Jones.
In February, he resigned from Breitbart after video was released showing him making comments that were interpreted as being supportive of pedophilia.
