Penn State Hosted The Proud Boys Despite Outcry. Students Were Attacked.

A member of the Proud Boys fights with student protesters on Penn State University's campus before an event that would feature Proud Boys founderGavin McInnes on campus. The Wayward Streamer is on the social networking site.

McInnes' supporters attacked students and members of the media at a Pennsylvania State University event.

During the hours leading up to the event, the Proud Boys and their allies attacked a group of protesters outside the venue. A member of the Proud Boys pepper- sprayed the crowd.

Students have been petitioning the university to cancel the event due to safety concerns.

On the basis of constitutionally protected speech, the event was allowed to continue. The administration weighed student safety against campus speech concerns, according to the student affairs vice president.

He said that the commitment to both freedom of expression and the welfare of the community were equally strong.

As a planned student protest began, fights broke out as well. Journalists and students are reeling from being sprayed with pepper spray.

Bobby, a student at Penn State, was hit with Pepper Spray moments ago, allegedly by a individual with a group of proud boys. The group has moved away from the entrances for the moment and is chanting between the Thomas building and Huck Life Sciences building pic.twitter.com/Nw4ZWcYFLS

— Pete Kurtz-Glovas 🎃 (@PeteKurtzGlovas) October 24, 2022

Police officers in body armor and mounted on horses were criticized by reporters at the scene for not intervening.

I was pepper- sprayed by a boy. Several other media received direct hits. The skin on my face and body is burning. Cops at Penn State did nothing.

Stein and McInnes were decried for bringing violence to campus but also accused of giving the pair "visibility."

Stein and McInnes will celebrate a victory for being canceled, when in reality they contributed to the violence that compromised their ability to speak. Counter-protestors will celebrate a victory that they forced the University to cancel, when in reality they have furthered the visibility of the very cause they oppose.

She said that no one was hurt in the event.

The administration previously banned neo-Nazi leader Richard Spencer after he participated in the Unite the Right rallies in Virginia. The administrators declared that Spencer wasn't allowed to speak on campus due to the threat of violence he and his allies posed to students.

Penn State supports the right of free speech and encourages it in respectful ways even when we disagree with it. The First Amendment doesn't require our University to be on high alert.

The hundreds of students who showed up to protest were praised by the student group that planned the demonstration.

The Student Committee for Defense and Solidarity said they won. The Penn State administrators who put students at risk should resign.

The student committee said that the McInnes event was not a speech issue but a safety issue.

The article was first published on HuffPost.