Protesters disrupt talk by pro-police author, sparking free-speech debate at Claremont McKenna College

At Claremont McKenna, about 250 protesters on Thursday blocked the entrance to the Athenaeum, where MacDonald was scheduled to appear. Many chanted “black lives matter” and “black lives — they matter here.”

.. Campus officials and security decided not to force entry into the venue on behalf of those who came to hear MacDonald speak.“Based on the judgment of the Claremont Police Department, we jointly concluded that any forced interventions or arrests would have created unsafe conditions for students, faculty, staff, and guests,” Claremont McKenna College President Hiram E. Chodosh said in a statement. “I take full responsibility for the decision to err on the side of these overriding safety considerations.”

.. Two hours before Yiannopoulos was to speak, more than 1,500 people had gathered in protest. Some smashed windows and set a small fire.

.. A statement from a group that defined itself as “students of color at the Claremont Colleges” called MacDonald a “notorious white supremacist fascist.”