A right hook in Berkeley revives debate over campus speech

SAN FRANCISCO — The University of California Police Department on Friday arrested a suspect in the assault of a conservative activist on the Berkeley campus, reviving a debate over free speech at colleges.

Neither the suspect, Zachary Greenberg, nor the man he is accused of punching, Hayden Williams, a field representative of the Leadership Institute, an organization that provides training to conservative campus groups, was a student at the university.

The attack Feb. 19 took place at Sproul Plaza, the birthplace and symbol of the Free Speech movement, the protests by students in the 1960s demanding greater political expression. Williams was helping a campus group that was recruiting members.

Conservative groups said the assault on Williams served as a symbol of what they say is continued intolerance toward conservative views on college campuses. Williams appeared on Fox News programs with a black eye, and videos of his assault were widely shared on social media.

The episode was only a faint echo of the brawl at the Berkeley campus in February 2017 when a group clad in black clothing and carrying sticks smashed windows, threw rocks at police and stormed a building in response to a planned speech by right-wing writer Milo Yiannopoulos, causing around $100,000 in damage.

In an interview, Williams said he and the students he was seeking to train had made signs supporting President Donald Trump and criticizing Jussie Smollett, an actor who has been charged in connection with his own assault in Chicago. One of the signs said, “This is MAGA country,” Williams said.

Two men are seen in multiple videos of the episode approaching Williams, who begins filming them. One man points to the signs and accuses Williams of “encouraging violence.”

A man is then seen pushing Williams, showering him with expletives and delivering a powerful right hook to his face.

A university spokeswoman said campus police would present the case to the Alameda County district attorney for the filing of criminal charges.

In a statement, Carol Christ, chancellor of the university, called the attack “reprehensible.”

“That sort of behavior is intolerable and has no place here,” the chancellor said. “Our commitment to freedom of expression and belief is unwavering.”

Bryan Bernys, head of the Campus Leadership Program at the Leadership Institute, accused the Berkeley campus of encouraging “a culture that fosters this type of horrible behavior toward anyone or anything that you disagree with.”

The Leadership Institute runs a website called Campus Reform, which says it “exposes the liberal bias and abuse against conservatives on America’s colleges and universities.”

“What does it say about Berkeley that this gentleman felt that he could go up and basically sucker-punch or cold-cock Hayden in the middle of a public square for no other reason than he disagreed with some of his speech and the signs that were out there,” Bernys said.

Dan Mogulof, a spokesman for the university, described Greenberg as a “lone actor.”

“Many people seem to think that somehow this university of all places should have the ability to prevent all crime even when it’s the responsibility of a lone, crazy individual,” Mogulof said.

As a measure of its commitment to ideological pluralism, Mogulof said the university spent $4 million last year for security and logistics to host conservative speakers, among them Rick Santorum, a former Republican senator and presidential candidate; Dennis Prager, a conservative talk show host; and Heather Mac Donald, a conservative writer and political commentator.