A protest outside of a Milo Yiannopoulos event this past Friday at the University of Washington in Seattle turned violent after a scuffle erupted between anti-Trump protesters and prospective event attendees in the Red Square area of the campus. The protest ended in gunfire.
A previous event at UC Davis with Yiannopoulos, the alt-right provocateur, and Pharma Bro Martin Shkreli was canceled last week amid a storm of protest and warnings by campus police that it could turn violent.
Anti-Milo protesters from various groups—including student activists, anarchists and Antifa (self-styled anti-fascists)—were on site before the start of the event and formed a human wall in front of the police barricade. Many wore masks and covered their faces with hoodies and bandanas. Police were forced to push them away from the barricade while prospective event attendees made their way in.
Protesters are not allowing 100s of #UW students to get into speech by controversial alt-right author Milo in Kane Hall. Tempers flaring. pic.twitter.com/PjMY6gKsYi
— Gary Horcher (@GaryKIRO7) January 21, 2017
As Yiannopoulos gave his presentation within Kane Hall at the UW campus, activists threw bricks and paint at attendees and law enforcement officers. A cameraman working for Yiannopoulos was also assaulted during the protest.
During this time, the campus issued an alert stating that someone had been shot in an area close to the Red Square. The sound of gunfire caused most of the crowd to disperse.
The victim, who is reported to have possibly sustained life-threatening injuries, is currently being treated at the Harborview Medical Center. Police state that the 34-year-old male received a gunshot wound to the abdomen. Little else is known of the victim’s identity at this point.
The suspect who fired the gun turned himself in and was arrested on Saturday. He was accompanied by another individual. Both individuals were released later that day.
“Following investigation of the details surrounding the incident, and in consultation with the prosecuting attorney’s office, the suspects were released pending further investigation. No suspects remain outstanding,” University police said in a statement.
The Seattle Times reports that law-enforcement officials said the shooter claims that the man he shot was “some type of white supremacist.” Friends of the injured man say he isn’t a white supremacist, and that the tattoo identifying him as a racist is an anti-swastika symbol—a black swastika surrounded by a red circle with a slash through it. Antifa websites also identified the victim as a “comrade” of the left-leaning movement.
Ian Miles Cheong is a journalist and outspoken media critic. You can reach him through social media at @stillgray on Twitter and on Facebook.
