Columbia students team up with antifa to protest Mike Cernovich
Right-wing provocateur and Pizzagate conspiracy theorist Mike Cernovich gave a speech at Columbia University on Monday night — prompting protests from students and members of New York City’s “antifa” coalition.
“You’re a f–king Nazi, you piece of s–t! F–k you, get the f–k outta here!” shouted one demonstrator, who managed to make it inside the venue.
“No one cares!” she yelled, just as Cernovich began his speech at around 8:45 p.m. “You have blood on your hands!”
Hundreds of people gathered outside Columbia to voice their disapproval with the event, though things remained relatively calm and orderly throughout the evening.
At one point, there was some face-to-face shouting matches and a few shoves, but nothing that led to violence. At least one person was taken into custody after he swiped a person’s cell phone, cops said.
“There is nothing radical about this speech tonight,” said one protester. “This speech is racist…Don’t be beguiled by a few white men with a few big words…They are the apologists of antisemitism.”
Cernovich — an avid Trump supporter and media personality who’s contributed to InfoWars — spent more than an hour speaking at Columbia’s Lerner Hall about “The Rise of the Alternative Media.”
He was invited by the student-GOP group, Columbia University College Republicans, or CUCR.
“People wonder why citizen journalism is on the rise, the reason is we are telling stories that no one wants to tell,” Cernovich claimed during his speech. “We’re telling the stories that are true.”
Right before he was scheduled to go on, demonstrators were able to gain access to Lerner Hall — amassing in the lobby and chanting, “If we don’t get no justice, then they don’t get no peace.”
Many held up signs saying “Black Lives Matter,” “Dismantle White Supremacy” and “F–k Nazis.”
The protesters included students, city residents and members of the anti-fascist movement, or antifa.
“Punch a Nazi in the face — every nation every race,” the group chanted.
“Racist, sexist, anti-gay — NYPD go away!”
Cernovich was one of the biggest supporters of the Pizzagate conspiracy last year, which falsely claimed that leaders in the Democratic party were involved in a child sex trafficking ring that was being run out of a restaurant in Washington.
The controversial blogger has tried to disassociate himself from the alt-right movement following the deadly events in Charlottesville — instead dubbing himself a member of the “New Right,” which is a phrase he coined last year.
Other right-wing provocateurs, such as Milo Yiannopoulous, have started using the term in the attempt to distance themselves from white nationalists and alt-right leaders like Richard Spencer.
Some of the Columbia students that were involved in the Cernovich protests also demonstrated outside the school earlier this month when anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson, of the UK, was invited to speak by the CUCR.
More than two dozen people managed to make it inside the venue and were able to disrupt a portion of his speech. Robinson was ultimately forced to end the event early.
Social media users had been hinting that there would be spats of violence at Columbia on Monday night during Cernovich’s speech.
In the days leading up to his arrival, school officials warned that anyone who disrupts the event would face disciplinary action. Several people interrupted Cernovich, though it’s unclear if they were students or if they’ll be punished.