Hayden Williams bashes Left's 'intolerance,' attempts to 'silence' conservatives in blistering new op-ed
Hayden Williams, in a new op-ed published by USA Today, said leftists "make it de facto impossible" to be conservative in public.
Williams further reflected on how he was assaulted at UC-Berkeley, the state of free speech on college campuses, and more.
Leadership Institute Field Representative Hayden Williams, in a USA Today op-ed published Wednesday, reflected on the recent unprovoked assault against him at the University of California-Berkeley, the state of free speech on college campuses, and the Left’s attempts to silence those with whom they disagree.
”I’ve seen the intolerance and hate towards conservatives on our college campuses with my own eyes,” Williams, who is an employee of Campus Reform’s parent organization, writes, “and the only difference between what happened to me on Feb. 19 and every other day is that the event was caught on video.”
Williams went on to cite several past examples, as reported by Campus Reform, in which conservative students on campus have faced verbal or physical assault, social rejection, or suffered academic persecution, simply because of their viewpoints. The reason for this, Williams says, is “because young liberals believe they are on the morally righteous side in a culture war.”
”In order to win, they must silence any form of dissent,” Williams adds. “Leftists and the progressive wing of the Democratic Party aspire to nothing less than to make it de facto impossible to be conservative in public.”
[RELATED: Berkeley assault suspect now faces THREE FELONY counts, one misdemeanor (UPDATE)]
Williams op-ed comes the same day that his alleged attacker, 28-year-old Zachary Greenberg, is scheduled to be arraigned in a California court on three felony charges and one misdemeanor charge.
One of the three felony charges included making a criminal threat. According to the criminal complaint, a copy of which Campus Reform obtained on Tuesday, states the “serious” nature of the charge: “It is further alleged that the threatened crime, on its face and under the circumstances in which it was made, was so unequivocal, unconditional, immediate, and specific as to convey to Hayden Williams a gravity of purpose and an immediate prospect of execution.”
Williams, in the op-ed, takes issue with UC-Berkeley, specifically, writing that the school’s “administration, in particular, has allowed a culture of intolerance and violence towards conservatives to grow,” a charge the university has repeatedly and adamantly denied.
[RELATED: Berkeley, on defense after Trump speech, blames media for ‘distorted’ coverage]
”UC Berkeley strongly condemns violence and harassment of any sort, for any reason. That sort of behavior is reprehensible and intolerable. We have, in recent years, spent millions of dollars to ensure that students from across the ideological/political spectrum can safely and successfully promote and discuss their beliefs. Our commitment to freedom of expression and belief is unwavering,” the university said.
Berkeley has further blamed media outlets for allegedly “distorting” the culture of tolerance at the college.
”Although we made every effort to inform the media, not a single outlet reported on the incontestable fact that these conservative student groups hosted a large number of conservative speakers, including Charlie Kirk (founder of Turning Point USA), Rick Santorum, Dennis Prager, Heather MacDonald, Candace Owens, Dave Rubin, Steve Simpson, Antonia Okafor, and Allie Stuckey. Not a single disruption. No opposition. No protest. No coverage,” the college said in a statement.
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