When pointedly conservative author Milo Yiannopoulos was scheduled to speak at the mostly liberal UC Berkeley, it wasn’t long before a peaceful protest turned into a vicious riot, resulting in 6 injuries and thousands of dollars worth of property damage to the campus. As a result, the event was cancelled and Yiannopoulos was evacuated. Shortly following, Donald Trump tweeted, threatening to cut federal funding for the University. This brings me to the question of this work; when does one person’s free speech begin to infringe upon the rights of others, and what are the consequences?

Now let’s be clear: The students of UC Berkeley were not the ones responsible for the riot. A self proclaimed anarchist/anti-fascist group know as The Black Bloc has been blamed for turning the protest violent. They have been heavily active in the Oakland area, donning black bandanas to mask their faces and armed with molotov cocktails, they quickly hijacked the protest and used it to push their extreme agenda.

I am all for peaceful protesting. In fact, I attended the anti-Trump rally a few months ago at the U of A. What I saw was a beautiful use of the constitutional right to assemble. Of course, there were some hecklers and heated arguments, but all issues were resolved quickly and peacefully. When done properly, a peaceful protest can be a potent and auspicious tool. But unfortunately, the UC Berkeley event is not the only time a once peaceful protest  has taken a violent  turn. When things reach a violent head, I believe protests can begin to hurt your cause instead of help it.

We’ll use the UC Berkeley riot as an example. Anybody that has done half a second of research will find it painfully obvious that the students were not responsible for the damages. Yes, they were protesting the speaker, but he or his surroundings were never in any sort of danger, and the event could have continued as normal. But because it was hijacked, the extremely Conservative Trump jumped at the opportunity to blame the University and it’s attendees, and threaten to cut funding to a California school, a place that has criticized him heavily.

I believe everybody is entitled to their constitutional right of free speech. And yes, that even includes the bigots, xenophobes, and hate-mongers. I also believe that people are entitled to share their opinions, as long as they do so in a peaceful and respectful manner. But when you do something to infringe upon the rights of another human being, especially through intimidation, I believe you are in the wrong, regardless of your beliefs and if I agree with them or not. And for those that hijack protests for their own personal gain, please stop. You’re making the rest of us look bad.