Transcripts For KNTV NBC Bay Area News At 6 20170202

Mudslides force the chp to close the highway several times. Theyre starting to remove some of the barriers to see in they can make it more passable. Highway 17 a trouble spot thats being watched very closely. The storms are filling up, california reservoirs the lexington reservoir. The storms are bringing a lot of snow this year as well. The department of Water Resources will release the result of a second snow pack survey. Along with watching jeffs forecast, you can stay on top of the weather. Download it today, get push alerts on when the rain is 30 minutes away from your home or work. A polarizing political figure will be on the cal campus within the hour. There are plenty of people to greet him, supporters and protesters, can you see down below our nbc chopper is overhead. Controversial writer for Breitbart News will sneak at cal this evening. The same man who was banned from using twitter last year for harassment. Aleash kirschner joins us from cal with the latest. The last 30 minutes, weve seen protesters get more active and aggressive. We saw a fire being lit behind me. Traffic was at a standstill. Its moving somewhat now weve seen protesters getting vine the. Video of firecrackers being lit were hearing reports of protesters getting aggressive toward police, that is unconfirmed at this time. Right now there are extra Police Officers, city police are also on stand by. Protesters tonight have one goal, that is making sure the controversial speaker is not allowed on campus here. Let me see you try. Matt knows hes not popular. He brings up topics that are not politically correct. The member of the Berkeley College republicans stands by their decision to bring him here to speak many. I dont think its hate speech, i think he is making fun of people who call him a neonazi in a sense. Its just a little back and forth. Protest organizer ronald cruz says its not about free speech. Its about preventing hateful speech. Were marching to shut down the ehavent. Hes a neofascist who has fostered a lynch mob mentality in his speeches. Reporter during a speaking engagement at the university of washington, a protester was shot last friday, at uc davis earlier this month, protesters blocked the 33yearold who called feminism a cancer and rape culture a fantasy. People are worried its going to get violent and nobody wants to see that here. This university, particularly given its status as the home of the Free Speech Movement is not going to do anything that would suggest we dont support the first amendment, free speech and free expression. Back here live, i want to take you to a live look from our chopper to show you overhead what we are seeing here on campus. We are seeing protesters lighting off fireworks, very vocal reports of fires being started here on campus, so far we have had no reports of any injuries, protesters, their main goal is preventing this controversial speaker from coming on campus here, we are seeing smoke billowing here into the sky at uc berkeley. Its unclear on the ground what is happening in the middle of all that smoke. We know protesters are very, very adamant about trying to prevent this controversial speaker from coming on campus here, ive been hearing fireworks going off, we are standing right across the street. We are in a safe location. And were going to show you more live video from the chopper overhead, uc berkeley here, where on campus protesters are taking to the streets, taking to the campus. Trying to prevent this speaker coming from the campus here, he is a very controversial figure. Protesters are adamant about stopping him from getting here, i am seeing a crowd rushing toward the middle of the campus here on the ground. Unclear exactly whats going on. Im going to walk back here to the camera, right next to i want to take you back here on the ground. My apologies, its an active scene here. Its unclear whats going on exactly in the crowds here, we are at a safe distance from the campus. Moments ago, we saw the entire street shut down, traffic is moving, of course. If youre at home watching this, please avoid this area, its unclear how dangerous and how violent this could turn. Reporting live from berkeley, Elise Kirschner, nbc news. Well check back with you throughout the several minutes here this evening of whats happening. Lets go back to our nbc chopper, if youre just now tuning in, there are protests growing in size now on the cal campus a controversial speaker is scheduled to speak. 8 00 is the scheduled appearance. Hes expected to be on campus at 7 00. It looks like more than a couple hundred protesters, have been gathering in these last 60 minutes down below. There are reports of some damage, you can see the smoke and small fires that have been lit there on the cal campus, the chancellor says of cal, he respects the right to free speech recordless of what that speech is, therefore this scheduled appearance will go on as planned at least as of right now. We just heard a few moments ago from our people on the ground there are some students grabbing those barriers, throwing the barriers, there is broken glass, and reports of students rushing around, trying as you can see right there, you can see right now the removal of those barriers, theres glass broken, some damage. As some of the protesters and demonstrators run around, and yes, the chancellor did condemn the political ideas in an open letter to students today. He said freedom of speech was too important to halt the conservative appearance tonight. Another small fire can you see outside of the theater has start started. Probably one of the biggest criticisms has been from this College Grant program. The grants are for the Minority Group of white men, this has stirred a lot of controversy over this. Were starting to see some of those firecrackers that elise was referring to, you can see them on your screen, and the small fires right outside the hall. Where hes scheduled to speak. This is right now near tell graph avenue on the cal campus, and what were seeing, a lot of small pockets of those fireworks that were seeing, Elise Kirschner down below, the traffic is moving at this hour, a lot of concern, we even saw this last night in san luis obispo. The uc officials at cal were prepared for possible protesters from what we saw last night. Now were getting a clearer picture from our chopper, if you can see that, on the left corner of your screen, not quite sure what that smoke and light is, though. We did see fireworks, it could be more fireworks there, at cal. We should mention that this is a sold out event. A lot of people are expected to come here hes expected to arrive at 7 00 for an 8 00 event. The goal of the protesters is to say they want to prevent him from entering that hall, to be able to deliver hate speech. They will not be tolerated on the Berkeley Campus. From our field crews, theyre telling us there are officers, campus officers and other officers trying to address the crowd. Again now, this is a shot from the ground level, trying to address the crowd. Not quite sure what theyre saying at this point. There is some damage there and theyre talking to the officers. Weve seen in the last 90 minutes, the crowds picking up as the event draws closer, 8 00, the event is supposed to start, sponsored by the Republicans Club there on campus. Well continue to monitor the situation on the ground. About 1,000 protesters are expected to show up this evening to block him from speaking tonight. Cals chancellor saying that cal holds the values of free speech, and thats why this very conservative speaker is being allowed to speak tonight. Even though they find what he has to say this breitbart writer as being divisive, intolerant. It will be respected and he will move on. Protesters have a completely different agenda as were seeing with some of the small fires, were hearing of some broken glass. The barriers they set up to keep the protesters at bay are being removed by the very protesters. You can see as we go back and sfoorj, right at the end of tell graph avenue and bancroft, if youre familiar with the cal campus, were talking about milo yanopolus here. Heres video from a short while ago, is this live video here . It is. You can see people scattering as you hear the fireworks happening here. Milo spoke last night at san louis obispo, similar things happened in terms of protests, and were seeing the same thing unfold in berkeley as theyre scheduled to speak at 8 00. There really were no the protesters showed out in force, but there was no violence, not as anticipated that they felt there was going to be some violence or acts of violence as he appeared on campuses. There did not happen when he spoke at cal poly, this is what cal berkeley is happening, there may be small squirmishes, but this ends up being a peaceful process, and he goes on as expected at 8 00 this evening. Hes an adamant donald trump supporter, and hes spoken throughout the country here in his tour of College Campuses, were hearing loud explosions here from the fireworks, presumably. When we chatted with elise 10 minutes ago we could see the smoke and disruptions just start thered on the cal campus. Yia in hnopoulos is scheduled to speak at 8 00. I think we have Elise Kirschner back with us. What are you seeing . We see a lot of commotion behind you . Reporter were having some problems with elises audio. Well see if we can fix those. Were seeing at least the starting as you can see there, about 1,000 protesters are expected to show up tonight, protests have followed yianno yiannopoulos at every campus hes gone to. Hes known for being a provocate provocateur. His language dove tails with the alt right movement. Though he himself disputes that classification. The latest criticism as we mentioned started from this new grant which is exclusively money that will be dolled out only to white men, which he says are a minority in the country complaining of the statistics of colleges and how only 46 of men College Campuses across the country are now made up of men a controversial figure whos been very involved in politics. Lets go back to Elise Kirschner on the ground. I hope you fixed your mike, what can you tell us about whats going on right now . Im hoping you can hear me now. Its been a chaotic scene. I heard a loud explosion on the campus here behind me, then crowds of people running away. I dont know if you can hear that, that is a fire alarm going off on campus here. We have seen fires being started, we have heard firecrackers going off, we are told inside of the crowd of people that the protesters are pushing over the barricades. Of course, the goal of the protesters is to prevent milo from his scheduled speaking appearance here, which is supposed to be in about 40 minutes or so, tight security has been planned in wake of the violence of the leading figure in the alt right movement, hes brought violence to the other College Campuses that hes been visiting. We reported earlier that during the speaking engagement, the university of washington was shot there last friday, and at uc davis earlier this month, protesters blocked the 33yearold who has called himself a feminist. Called feminism a cancer and rape culture a fantasy, from speaking there. And cal has obviously been a vocal a very active university throughout history, in terms of the Free Speech Movement, and the university publicly has said that they welcome him here, he was invited by the student Republican Club to speak at this event. He also has the right to free speech, protesters have been clear saying, this is not about free speech, this is about preventing hatred and speech that is supporting that type of thought process and you can see that they are very determined in trying to prevent this controversial leader from coming here on campus, hes been known to dress like a protester and get into the crowds. He could be here on campus, we dont know. Its been minute to minute here. At one point we saw this entire road here stopped. Traffic not being able to get through, protesters are on the street, you can hear them behind me, you can see them marching along the street here, they again are going to extreme measures from trying to prevent this controversial speaker from going on campus, its unclear if the event has been cancelled. Im just getting word that the event has been cancelled which has been their goal all along. In that way, protesters here, i am sure feel like they have been successful. But the question is, at what cost in terms of the damage on campus, we have seen fires being started. We have heard firecrackers going off, we have people on the ground telling us that police have not rerespondeded. They are letting the protesters voice their concerns, whether it be violent and we are also if you take a look here at my cameraman, were seeing people here Business Owners shutting their doors out of fear this could turn violent as it did on other College Campuses. This is just starting here, this is live here on bancroft. People obviously not feeling safe. We have not felt safe for moments, but we are away from all of the crowds. Police i know have been urging the public to stay away from this area, obviously, its a moment to moment situation. Im going to send it back to you, raj and jess in the studio. Elise, a couple questions for you. I want to confirm what youre hearing. This event has been cancelled, scheduled to start at 8 00, it has been cancelled, similar to what we saw at uc davis a couple weeks ago. They cancelled that event because of protesters, you mentioned youre on bancroft. Elise is going to go back and get more information. She mentioned shes right there on bancroft, but it has been cancelled as we saw two weeks ago at uc davis. What we saw a few minutes ago, not just uc police, but it looked like we saw tactical teams on the second floor of one of the buildings on campus. S. W. A. T. Teams coming in to keep the peace here, we have seen damage and small explosions from fireworks. Bricks and small fireworks have been thrown from the protesters toward officers who are standing in front of that building. If youre just now joining in, this scheduled appearance by Milo Yiannopoulos at 8 00, has been cancelled. Some of the protesters have found out the event has been cancelled and theyve been successful from blocking him. Were hearing reports of some of the protesters cheering, as word starts to spread throughout campus, that the event has been cancelled earlier today, the chancellor sent out a note to students saying he would not halt the conservative writer from appearing on campus, he did not agree with ideas, but he would not block him, its the students that have been successful in blocking him as he appeared tonight on the campus. Talking about 1,000 or so expected 1,000 protesters and with police and on campus with those barriers put up, the barriers were moved, we saw elysees we heard some sort of explosion, we dont know what that was, there were some fires and firecrackers going off, there has been shattered glass, the extent of the damage that may have occurred on the campus at this point, it is not clear, and thats something that well note throughout the evening as we continue to cover this story. Uc berkeley confirming to us, that yiannopoulos was on campus, and has left campus. He shows up in order to speak, because of the large amount of protests and the damage here done by the protests, hes left campus, perhaps theyll reschedule another time or simply put more fuel to the fire here on both sides of the coin. On what he brings to the table in terms of his views on politics and the world. Especially at this point. Again, its been cancelled due to these protests, not sure if these protesters will remain on campus, and continue to damage the campus there right along telegraph and bancroft, we will see as this unfolds through the night. Lets bring in cheryl hurd to see what shes been hearing, has it already made it through the crowd that his visit has been cancelled . It did, that announcement was just made a few moments ago, and some people started to cheer, if you can go in and move in, not too close, because its volatile up there. Folks up there may not have heard, maybe they have heard, it all started here at about 6 00, we were just about to go into the facility when folks in black outfits with their faces covered started moving the barricades and shooting off flash bangs, fireworks and i did smell some other chemicals that went off that made it, so we couldnt breathe very well, people are still crowded here, they took some of the barricades and threw them into the wall there. One student who said that he was a reporter for the daily cow said that they tried to take his phone and they roughed him up a little bit, because they did not like the fact that he was taking pictures and documenting the situation. He kept his phone, but he said, hey, look, im a liberal, but i dont think that this should be shut down. You all know that by any means necessary, one of the groups that said that they wanted to shut this down were successful, so to speak. They cancelled this particular event, there are hundreds and thousands of people here. And im not really quite sure, you can see that from our Vantage Point. It goes from here, probably to the sailor gate. But theyre still marching, still chanting, and bent on causing some destruction here. Im trying to get a count here, its impossible for us to do that, because we are staying back. It looks like people are now moving, and it looks like theyre running to this particular location. And we are going to have to stay close to cheryl, were going to let you stay close to the barricades. Cheryl, you stay close to the barricades. We want to give you an update right now. Police on the Berkeley Campus saying the milo event has been cancelled. And the campus is on lockdown in essence, theyre asking everyone to shelter in place on campus, that all campus buildings are on lockdown. This coming from uc police at berkeley, again, those everyone thats on that campus is being asked to shelter in place. Its a volatile situation, enough that theyre asking everyone to shelter in place, all the buildings remain closed at this point. We have not yet heard anything from Milo Yiannopoulos. Ive been following his twitter page to see if he has said anything about the cancellation. What weve seen in these last 90 minutes, more than 1,000 people down below. With this event cancelled at cal, how much damage is there, and what will these protesters and students and other people do tonight. Is it over now, will they disburse or are they moving their targets somewhere else. Ian is on the cal campus for us, he joins us on the telepho e telephone, what are you seeing. Reporter there are a lot of people that are continuing to come here, check out what is going on, they heard those loud bangs. And they saw the fireworks, they heard the fire alarm at the Student Union. They want to get over here and see whats going on. We saw a dumpster that was set on fire on bancroft. And then over on telegraph, about a block or two to the east, police are shutting the street down, so the cars dont continue to come down here. We saw basically a peaceful protest at first, and then right around 6 00 i witnessed about 100 to 150 people dressed in all black with their faces covered. Even at one point, them starting to throw rocks at Berkeley Police officers who are on their bikes on telegraph here. Then they went over by the Student Union, started setting off some fireworks and also, i believe throwing a flair at the Student Union building. Much more calm now, even though there are hundreds not more than a thousand people here. The growing size on that was ian cole joining us on the phone. Describing what hes seeing. Hes seeing what were seeing right now. A target, the photographer continued to give you a scope of how many people are there. As weve seen with so many protests recently and historically. Most of the protests appear to be peaceful, the protesters, there is a chunk of protesters that are throwing objects toward the building. Lighting things on fire, if youre just now tuning in, milo was scheduled to speak, hes a conservative speaker, he was scheduled to speak. That was a sold out event sponsored by the Republicans Club. Moving forward the cal campus is on lockdown, this is disrupting a lot of students on either side of the political coin here. Traffic in this area, the immediate area is closed off. Several streets are being closed off because of what were seeing down below. No updates on injuries to the protesters, the innocent bystanders and also to Police Officers. Lets bring in cheryl hurd again, we saw a bunch of people rushing around, you had to move to the barricades. Are you located near that fire. Can you tell us whats happening there . We are located pretty close to the fire. We are located pretty close to the fire, and its starting to set fire to a tree. Its a pretty dangerous situation. And if we can pan over and see the police, they are standing by. The folks, the protesters who were hell bent on stopping milo from speaking today, agenda, and police have their agenda. They havent moved in, theyve just let happen what has happened, right now you see a fire in the middle of the quad area, its spreading to a tree. And that may be a dangerous situation i dont know. Folks are still crowded here. Cheering now that the fire is catching the tree. There are a line of trees. It could turn into a fire situation. People are coming up to me saying we were successful. This is february 1st, the beginning of black history month, and this is mlk Union Theater here. Theyre angry about that. Theyre angry about the fact that Milo Yiannopoulos is here, the day he chose to appear. The fire is starting to rage out of control. Any questions . Can i ask you what it is thats on fire . And how many people are near what is burning . There are hundreds of people here, i will fall short of saying thousands, i havent been to the other side of campus, but there are definitely hundreds of people here, im not quite sure what is on fire, i think the protesters put some type of wood and flammables there, and like i said, its starting to catch the tree on fire. And that fires going to start moving this way. Im surprised that firefighters havent come in to try to put this fire out, as you can see, police are standing by in riot gear, theyre just trying to let this whole thing play out. This is cheryl hurd, something on fire. Important that cheryls pointing out that firefighters are not yet accessing the scene, its important to know, because at some point they might fear either this fire is contained or its too dangerous to get into the scene. Cheryl, have you heard, because usually at this point, we will hear the police, and we will focus in there, you can see some of the tactical teams on the second floor there, have you heard the Police Telling the crowd to disburse or any arrests, thats usually what comes at this point. That is usually what comes, a warning, i did hear one warning to disburse, but that was about 15 or 20 minutes ago, twice actually, somebody is telling me that police did give a warning twice. So yes, we does hear that, but the crowd has not dispersed, the fire is starting to dissipate and there is a lot of cheering. I dont know why, but there is a lot of cheering going on. We can hear the cheers. Okay, cheryl, ill let you im in. Go ahead. Go ahead. No, it seems as though some music is starting to play, and we can see some movement up there. It looks like the car is moving. There are some people out here trying to tell me where to go to get a better Vantage Point. It looks as though some music is starting to play, even though police have given two warnings, im told, it looks like the protesters for now are hear to stay. Right, and you know what, its been the position in the past. That police have moved in, i think in the last few years, the police have taken a position of not moving in on protesters. We just heard an explosion, it has been to the position of Berkeley Police, to not interfere with these protests. For fear of making the situation more volatile. A lot of times, Berkeley Police will take a wait and see, if it dissipates on its own. Before they move in. And cause a more chaotic situation to develop. Thats been the position of the Berkeley Police department for the last few protests weve seen on campus. If youre just now tuning in, at 6 30, this is what were seeing, the protest at uc berkeley, about the speaker, Milo Yiannopoulos has been cancelled. The cal campus is locked down. From our three or four reporters, and photographers down on the scene. The question moving forward as we focus in there on some of the tactical units. Cheryl hurd has told us, they warned the crowd here two or three times to disburse or face arrest, theyre going to wait and see, and let the crowd disburse on its own, they will have to make a key decision here at what point does it become dangerous for the crowd and officers. Or do they move in and forcefully move these people out and start making arrests there at sprout plaza, and the streets surrounding the cal campus. Weve just received word that Berkeley Police has asked for mutual aid, which means theyve asked the Alameda County sheriffs department, is responding to help with crowd control coming to the aid, mutual aid of the Berkeley Police department. Berkeley police could be thinking of what their alternatives are right now, and how much force they may need, or how much manpower they may need to disburse some of these protesters if it comes to the point where they decide they want to move in. Mutual aid has been requested. Again, controversial figure known for starting making outrageous, very alt right statements, and again here as we saw at uc davis a few weeks ago, the appearance of Milo Yiannopoulos has been cancelled. He appeared at cal poly on tuesday, he was able to hold his conversation, thats when he started talking about this new grant that hes put together for white men, the College Grant. Cal poly did move forward. Protesters were too much, and finally it was decided that it would be cancelled. Last night that happened, two weeks ago, at uc davis, similar things to what were seeing tonight. Again, Milo Yiannopoulos was on campus, a short while ago, getting ready for his speech and presentation at 8 00, but hes since left campus after University Officials cancelled this proo test. Were waiting now to see at what point the police do step in. One of our crews down below said Police Officers are making their way toward that fire to either ensure the safety of the officers surrounding this fire, and the protesters and the innocent by standers as well, or at some point to start making arrests. Right now, those protesters, several hundred want to be responsible in our reporting here, not quite sure the amount of protesters, at least we know this, several hundred there, right along the edge of the cal campus near sprout plaza. Protesting successfully protesting now, the cancellation of this event. We should say that what weve been able to see so far, the damage has not been extensive, you see the small fires, weve seen some firecrackers going off. Flash bangs and weve heard some reports of breaking glass. But the campus is on lockdown, all the buildings are closed to the students, they cannot enter them. Theyve been told to shelter in place, get off campus, or stay put until they can deal with whats happening. Lots of people there on the cal campus at this point. Milo yiannopoulos, a supporter of president trump. I presume these pictures are being taken by the process. What is he doing tonight and where his speech was going to occur. Its a safe situation because we dont see firefighters accessing the scene. We have seen him accessing the floor and surrounding buildings, tactical buildings and s. W. A. T. Teams, there are several other agencies being requested by uc police to help this protest there on campus. Were hearing unconfirmed reports that that bang we heard was from a generator. That has not been confirmed. Lets get back down on the ground with Elise Kirschner. Can you hear us in. Reporter i can. What have you got now . Reporter well, here on the ground it has quieted down in the last few minutes, we have been hearing fireworks, firecrackers going off, the alarm behind me going off, the campus is on a lockdown, as we just reported, the controversial speaker has cancelled his event here, this entire event was actually started because of the Berkeley College republicans group. Im joined by tom who is part of that group, he doesnt want to give us his last name or show his identity. Please tell me a little bit about why you guys wanted this event here, and what your reaction is to the fact that its been cancelled. We ultimately win tonight, because everyone across the country, because i believe this is being carried on live tv across the country, that we ultimately look like the winners. You know, these people are shutting down free speech and its absolutely ironic, that the birth of the Free Speech Movement can only be for a few people and it cant be for people that are like mr. Yiannopoulos. I have friends locked inside sur rounded by riot police, the threat level of violence is intolerable, theres glass broken in front of the Student Union, a tree was recently burning down. Protesters pushed over a generator, leaked fuel and that was the largest boom of the night. You said you have friends inside, what are they telling you about what its like inside the building here, and youre describing what building for viewers at home . This hall holds about 600 people. No one from the outside can get in with how they locked down this building. My friends are surrounded by riot police, and its truly scary, theyve been the protesters have been blowing on their horns, this is truly scary, i see people running and i fear for my friends lives and myself. Theyre in a safe place, right . Yes, theyre probably sitting crisscross apple so is. Has anyone from the organization spoken with Milo Yiannopoulos. Not that i know of. Hes not inside the building, its just my friends and i doubt that he even has the ability to get anywhere near here now. So yes. There are reports that he was on campus at one point, is that true . Did he even get on campus today . I cannot verify that for myself. I know hes not present with my friends inside the building. What were you hoping to accomplish by having him here on camp campus . As weve been reporting, there have been other incidences where there was widespread violence, even a shooting. Im sure there was fear that could happen here . Oh, absolutely theres a fear here. And many of my friends have feared for their lives, theyve taken extraordinary precautions to do so, but i mean, ultimately, the accomplishment of mr. Yiannopoulos is to showcase that these people are not peaceful, theyre not tolerant individuals, they preach tolerance, but theyre intolerant themselves. Just wrapping up here on the ground, that is we just heard from a student from the Berkeley College Republican Club, the organization that actually invited milo here, that event has been cancelled. The school on lockdown, police here, large presence here on campus. We can see on bancroft that the street all the way down about three blocks has been shut down, obviously if youre at home, watching this, try to avoid this area at all costs. Elise kirschner, nbc bay area news. Bancroft and telegraft, as she was saying, those streets are blocked off, at least bancroft for a few blocks, this is video from our chopper 30 minutes ago. This is video from before the event was scheduled. You can see the protesters dragging those barriers, theyre pretty heavy. Dragging them out of the way, and creating a toxic and chaotic environment right there. Soon after this is when the university of california berkeley officially cancelled the speaking event by Milo Yiannopoulos. The chancellor saying this is too unsafe to continue forward. Cheryl, we just heard from a supporter of milo, now, lets hear from one of the protesters, are you with me down below . Reporter yes, i am with you, and i have both sides standing before me, i have someone who is in favor of shutting it down, and someone who would like to hear Milo Yiannopoulos speak tonight. Sir, what is your reaction to what happened here tonight . My reaction is, that although there was some property damage, i think its important that we use free speech to shut down hate speech. Okay. I have keira, and i forgot your last name. Whats your reaction to this . My reaction is, id like everyone whose watching this right now, to look at the people who are protesting, look at the people causing the violence, its not the people in the red hats. And you feel differently, of course, to steven here standing to your right. Id like you to ask him how does he define hate speech. How do you define hate speech. Den greats people, marginalizes people, forces people on the fringes to abandon the hope that they had, i think its important that they realize there was no violence tonight, its mere property damage. Theres a large difference between violence and property damage. Just to be fair, your last word here. There you have it, theres a difference for him between hate speech and prop ert damage, i mean i dont need to say any more. Look at whats going on. Look at whos doing it, thank you. There you have it, you have both sides to whats going on out here, thank you very much, steven for speaking with us. Both sides passionate about how they feel about whats going on out here. The fire had dissipated, we determined that the fire was this particular portable light that caught fire that had some butane gas inside, then they started throwing flammables on to that, right now, that fire is out, people are still continuing to gather, people are Still Standing by. If we can pan over into the mlk building, theyre Still Standing by in riot gear. Protesters are just kind of hanging out, waiting to see what the next thing will be. As you said Milo Yiannopoulos was here, he left the building, people here are celebrating, they were determined to shut this speaking engagement down, and they were successful in that. Guys . I want to let you know, we have just received a statement from milo yianopoulos. Im going to read it to you. I have been evacuated from the uc Berkeley Campus after violent left wing protesters tore down barricades, lit fires, threw rocks and roman candles at the windows, and breached the ground floor of the building. My team and i are safe, but the event has ban cancelled. Ill let you know more when the facts become clear. One thing we do know for sure, the left is absolutely terrified of free speech, and will do literally anything to shut it down. Youre looking at the words from Milo Yiannopoulos. We heard a short time ago from one of his supporters saying there are 600 people right now still inside that building. Those people had shown up to attend and hear yiannopoulos speak, when all of these protests broke out, they were shut down in that campus building and remain in there, there are some concerns about them leaving the building and the reaction to protesters. At this point, the cal police have them on lockdown inside that building. And they say that some of them are fearful for the reaction of what may happen when they try to leave the building. Politics is one thing, but really first and foremost right now in terms of police and s. W. A. T. Is just the safety of everyone involved. Lets bring in ian call, he joins us right near where that fire was, i asked was, is it still visible where you are . It is, raj, and we just arrived at this spot, you cant see, theres people standing in the way, its really dying down, its really at the size of a camp fire, where really earlier it was an inferno. A lot of people standing around checking out whats going on, the crowd down below more than 1,000 in this square here. Starting to chant antitrump chants from time to time. Were seeing the broken windows on the Northeast Corner of the Student Union, it looks like the amazon store. Were seeing the officers up above monitoring the situation, right now as well as inside as we were walking by those windows. In the s. W. A. T. Gear. Everything out here right now, its pretty calm, no ones moving around, theyre not doing much. Theyre all looking around and talking with each other. So much different scene that earlier. Were seeing another drum come through here, the drums have started up in this square, but were going to continue to monitor this situation. From where were at right now. Back to you. Ian, heres what we know right now, ian is down below, cheryl hurd, Elise Kirschner is down below, heres what we know right now, about 30 minutes ago, they cancelled the speaking engagement by Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos, 33 years old, he has now via facebook a statement, in which he says at least the tail end of it, the left is absolutely terrified of free speech and will do literally anything to shut it down. Milo yiannopoulos is off of campus. Its interesting to know he posted on facebook, on twitter hes been banned twitter banned Milo Yiannopoulos from using their platform. Hes reached out on facebook, on Facebook Live, hes scheduled to go live any minute now, we may take a clip off Facebook Live and bring it to you here as well. Also, our nbc chopper is streaming live, our own home page at nbcbayarea. Com. You can get the Vantage Point of our reporters here, and you can see whats happening live from our nbc chopper. Alameda county Sheriffs Office has been called in to give mutual aid to the Berkeley Police department and the cal Police Department as well to monitor the situation. Currently, for the last few years, the mandate has been to give protesters a wide birth and to let them on campus. Thats as a result of the 2009 occupy protests that we saw during november of 2009, when if you remember, students took over wheeler hall, those protests ended badly with polices attacking the protesters and 100 students were arrested. Some of the faculty was arrested, since those protests back in 2009, the position has been to hold off on bringing police on campus, to move protesters, so that theres no calls of excessive force, thats why were probably saying police are taking a wait and see position to see what develops, but they do have the Alameda County sheriffs deputy on stand by, the mode here will be to wait and see if they can get these crowds to dissipate, to go away, and let this all just settle down before they bring in police to do any kind of actions on these protesters. Just getting an update now from Berkeley Police, we were hesitant to speculate on the size of the crowd, because we didnt know, Berkeley Police now telling us, theyre estimating this crowd of about 500 people. About 500 people down below at uc berkeley, right there on bancroft and telegraph the concentration of the crowd. This video of the fire, it was officially cancelled at 6 15, we do know shortly after that, our reporter cheryl hurd was down below, and she heard that shortly after 6 15 the police did ask the crowd to disburse and they did threaten to arrest people if they didnt disburse, obviously, theyre not moving in, so they are just waiting and seeing here, and not trying to stoke this crowd any further. Ian coal is referring to as well, we see its stabilized a lot. Not as much activity or damage. In essence they got what they wanted in cancelling this event. One of the supporters of yianopoulos. Berkeley students preach tolerance, but theyve been intolerant by not allowing him to deliver his alt right restaurant. The 600 people that were there to see him are sheltering in place. Lets take you on the ground to cheryl hurd who spoke to both protesters and supporters of yiannopoulos a few minutes ago. Its definitely a wait and see situation. Police are Still Standing by in the building. And people are still gathering in the quad area. I just heard two warnings, to disburse, the fire happened and now the fire is out. No firefighters to put it out. So theyre letting things play out here. You have some students who are just kind of standing by, and you have your active protesters who are here, i dont know if you have been watching our broadcast. A few moments ago, i had someone who was in favor of the protests saying they have free speech and there was a trump supporter who had a trump supporter hat on who says, this is not free speech, because the gentleman didnt have a chance to give his speech at 8 00. Now they have a Party Atmosphere going on, i hear some music playing, and folks are pretty much in a party kind of atmosphere if you will. I think theyre here to stay for the long hall until someone moves in, again to my left, you see that police are standing by in riot gear, theyre just kind of waiting to see whats going on. I havent heard any more orders to disburse, but if youre just joining us, you know that milo was supposed to speak here at 8 00 today, hes been making his trip throughout the country on his tour. I think uc berkeley was the last stop for him, and weve been hearing for months now that folks here in the bay area were saying that they were not going to let him speak here tonight. They were successful, it has been cancelled, and he also released a statement that you just read. I asked one of our mmjs, how many folks do you think are out here, she says 1,000, maybe 2,000. And i heard someone else say, about 1,000, so its safe to say there are hundreds of people out here, and the music is playing, they plan to be here for a very long time. Successful for one side because of this. The event has been cancelled. And disappointment for the other side, because Milo Yiannopoulos will not be speaking tonight. Seems like the tenor of what the crowds tone is, has certainly changed. Have you been able to see any more of those people that were talking about, that are wearing the hoodies and masks that came in, and removed the barriers . Is that element left . That element is still here, theyre definitely still here, maybe theyre kind of standing down, it seems as though they got what they want ed and again its important to note that the folks who wore all black and covered their faces, they dont like the media, they dont like anyone who doesnt feel the same way they do. We heard, media get out of here, and kind of feared for our safety, but theyre definitely still here. Maybe not really knowing what to do right now, because they were here to stop milo from speaking, and they got what they wanted. One more question in terms of police presence. The Alameda County Sheriffs Office will send in some of its deputies, have you seen any of that, deputy presence, and in terms of the uc police that you see there, what are we talking about, in numbers that you can ascertain from where youre located . Well, its kind of hard to tell, jessica, but there are definitely about 150 u. C. Police officers in riot gear inside the building. Im sure theyre certainly surrounding this protest area, and its important to note, and im glad that youre jogging any memory here, bancroft and telegraph is shut down for about a block and a half. If theyre getting mutual aid, theyre either here or on their way, theyve blocked off this street from telegraph toward the hills, and so if theyre mobilizing, police if the police are mobilizing right now, theyre probably doing it about, the official estimate of the crowd below is 500 people, and indeed this was the last stop of milos college tour, College Campus tour last night, was cal poly, san luis owe bis bow, uc davis was cancelled at the last minute. Via his facebook page, about four or five minutes ago, he cant communicate via twitter, hes been banned from that platform. Milo yiannopoulos on facebook said, hearing reports of my security, that police are using nonlethal bullets and tear gas outside. Fireworks, rocks and other projectiles have been hurled at police. What youre seeing on your screen is his response from 30 minutes ago. Hearing reports via my security that police are using nonlethal bullets and tear gas outside. Fires, rocks, and other projectiles have been hurled at police, we know from our reporters and what were seeing with you at home, weve seen those projectiles being thrown and the fires firsthand right here. Milo is scheduled to go on Facebook Live in a few minutes, when he gets to a secure location. Campus police again saying that everyone near bancroft and telegraph should call away, theyre calling this a major protest, with Police Activity taking place on the campus, theyre urging everyone in the surrounding neighborhoods to stay off of kpugs, and not join in on the protest. Again, a shelter in place order has been issued, they want to keep people off campus until the situation is brought under control. Ucpd is saying that theres a dangerous situation unfolding in the area of bancroft and telegraft, and urging people to stay off campus as much as they can. It does appear the tone of this protest has changed. Since protesters have managed to cancel yiannopoulos visit to campus. We heard the generator pop, which is a generator that the protesters had taken and exploded. Were hearing a lot more music. You look at the video, you see a lot of people smiling and milling about, cal police just holding back, this is some of the video that we saw earlier this evening, when we saw that fire right near the ballroom where this was going to be held, and one of the light generators is what we understand was tipped over, set on fire, and that event ulee did cause a loud explosion live on tv. It looks like that fire has dissipated. Berkeley police in the riot gear on stand by, again, hoping that this will just calmly dissipate and now that yiannopoulos is communicating via facebook, their expectation and hope is that this will just end on its own, and they do not have to move in and make the situation more volatile by becoming aggressive with the students. If youre just now tuning in, its 7 00, weve been going on the air now nonstop since the 5 00 hour, youre looking at shots from uc berkeley. Exactly 45 minutes ago, uc berkeley cancelled a speech that was scheduled to be at 8 00 by Milo Yiannopoulos. Hes 33 years old, controversy has followed him across the country and the world. They cancelled the event that was scheduled at 8 00, what youre seeing here, 500 protesters causing a lot of damage