
 
 University of California at Berkeley police guard the building where former Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos was to speak on Feb. 1. (Ben Margot/Associated Press) 
 
 The University of California at Berkeley is bracing for massive protests and potential violence in an open, public space known as Sproul Plaza after hearing that conservative commentator Ann Coulter plans to give a speech there Thursday. 
 
 The state flagship university has become ground zero for an intense confrontation between the far left and the far right since Donald Trump’s election in November, with some protesters trying to stop controversial speakers from appearing on campus and others objecting that such actions violate their right to free speech. Some of the clashes have devolved into riots, leaving the school and city to struggle with how best to balance the free exchange of ideas with community safety. 
 
 In February — and twice more since then — masked protesters turned demonstrations over free speech and hate speech into violent confrontations, setting fires, causing injuries and leaving hundreds of thousands of dollars of property damage in their wake. 
 
 “The character of that attack on campus was unprecedented,” UC-Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks said Tuesday. 
 
 [How Berkeley has become the far left and far right’s battleground] 
 
 Coulter said in an email late Tuesday night that she plans to arrive at Berkeley sometime after 6 p.m. on Thursday. She said she is still hopeful that Berkeley will provide “an appropriate room” for the event and that she is still unsure when and where she will speak. College Republicans had been discussing the possibility of Sproul Plaza for Coulter’s speech since the university canceled Thursday’s planned event and so far has declined to provide a venue for it on that day. 
 
 Sproul Plaza, site of the Free Speech Movement protests in the 1960s, would be both symbolic and logistically challenging for the university because anyone can be there. Dirks said that for an inside event, the university would have metal detectors and other ways to search for weapons, but security will be much more difficult in a public outdoor space. 
 
 [Berkeley gave birth to the Free Speech Movement in the 1960s. Now, conservatives are demanding it include them.] 
 
 “If somebody brings weapons, there’s no way to block off the site, or to screen them,” Dirks said, noting that officials realize that some of the demonstrators, such as those known as Black Bloc, understand how to penetrate the crowd and use it as a shield. “In an open space, you have almost no control over that,” he said. “The challenges are immense.” 
 
 Conservative commentator Ann Coulter says threats of violence won't stop her from speaking at the University of California at Berkeley on April 27. (Reuters) 
 
 After the university went on lockdown after a February clash and police urged university officials to cancel controversial writer Milo Yiannopoulos’s speech — which they did — President Trump raised the threat of pulling federal funding from the public school. 
 
 But the cancellation of the Yiannopoulos event further galvanized activists on the far right, who viewed it as a call to arms and proof that conservatives around the country are being oppressed. And in recent weeks, rallies in the city of Berkeley have devolved into bloody street brawls. Left-wing activists have clashed with Trump supporters, and anarchists in black masks have squared off against self-proclaimed militia groups. 
 
 [Trump lashes back after violent protests at UC Berkeley] 
 
 On Monday Coulter retweeted a weather forecast with this comment: “Nice day for an outdoor speech at Berkeley.” 
 
 Nice day for an outdoor speech at Berkeley. https://t.co/PlbOP8YcDj — Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) April 24, 2017 
 
 Berkeley College Republicans originally invited Coulter to speak on campus Thursday, but university officials canceled the event because of safety concerns. The university, facing backlash, quickly reversed course and invited her to speak next week instead at an indoor location. 
 
 Coulter rejected that offer and said she still plans to come to Berkeley on Thursday despite the university’s warnings against it. On Monday, student groups filed a lawsuit against university officials, complaining that the university’s decision was stifling free speech at the school, particularly for politically conservative students whose views are controversial on the liberal campus. 
 
 “Though UC Berkeley promises its students an environment that promotes free debate and the free exchange of ideas,” the lawsuit contends, “it had breached this promise through the repressive actions of University administrators and campus police, who have systematically and intentionally suppressed constitutionally-protected expression” by the many students whose political views align with the plaintiffs. 
 
 The lawsuit claims that students typically leave campus in early May — the week known as “dead week” before final exams — and that delaying Coulter’s speech until then limits her potential impact. Dirks countered that claim. 
 
 “That’s not our experience,” he said. “It’s not a vacation. We assume students stay and work in the libraries.” 
 
 Having the event next week would open up options because there will be no conflict with classes and it would be much easier to get a safe venue, Dirks said. There were very few places police believe they can secure for such a speech given the current climate, he said. 
 
 Dirks defended the university’s commitment to free speech and said his concerns about academic freedom include worries about some members of the College Republicans who have been targeted by other members of campus for their views. 
 
 In Dirks’s time as chancellor, protesters tried to stop liberal television host and comedian Bill Maher from speaking, but Dirks said he insisted that Maher come. He told students and faculty upset about Yiannopoulos that his First Amendment rights should prevail over their concerns that he violates the community’s values. 
 
 [Ann Coulter finds an unlikely ally in her free-speech spat with Berkeley: Bill Maher] 
 
 University officials thought they were prepared for Yiannopoulos, having erected three barrier chain-link fences, placed about 90 police officers on campus, and searched for weapons and other items when ticket-holders came inside. But that wasn’t enough. 
 
 “It took about 15 minutes for Black Bloc protesters to come and begin to break the windows and doors … and light a major fire using a propane tank that was there for temporary lighting,” Dirks said. 
 
 The campus has become a symbolic center of a much larger fight, he said, with a growing perception among many that universities are so steeped in political correctness that they reject real debate, that they are isolated bubbles with values antithetical to the Trump administration. But they also face anger from the far left for allowing speakers whose views offend some. “We’re getting hit from both sides,” Dirks said. 
 
 Since February, he said, “We’re engaged in a new reality — what was unprecedented is not going away.” Now people think of the campus as a place “for the mounting of pitched battle, and the staging of violent controversies.” 
 
 Dirks said Tuesday that, given the school’s history, “It is in a way fitting that Berkeley be a leader in helping figure out how the new political realities are going to affect the life of the university.” 
 
 It’s not just a problem at Berkeley. 
 
 Last week at Auburn University, a fistfight broke out during protests when alt-right leader Richard Spencer spoke on campus. Earlier this year at Middlebury College, an angry mob of hundreds surrounded author and conservative scholar Charles Murray after he tried to give a lecture about his most recent book. Protesters, including some wearing masks, climbed on the hood of his car and pounded on windows as he tried to leave. 
 
 Lawrence Lokman, a spokesman for Penn State University, confirmed that its president, Eric Barron, serves on “an academic advisory committee to Homeland Security and co-chairs a subcommittee on countering extreme violence on campuses. As part of that, they have received a briefing on violence related to campus speakers.” 
 
 Pranav Jandhyala, who leads one of the two student groups that invited Coulter to campus, said Tuesday that Coulter and a national group working on her behalf called Young America’s Foundation had told student organizers about her plans to speak on Thursday at Sproul Plaza. Coulter said in an email that she and the students she has had contact with at Berkeley did not discuss the specific venue or time of her speech. 
 
 In the email, Coulter said of Jandhyala, “I appreciate his group and his enthusiasm, but this is a telephone game of misinformation.” 
 
 Jandhyala said his student group has been trying frantically to find an off-campus venue for Thursday, and he said he shares the concerns of university officials that Coulter’s appearance at Sproul — and the protests and counter-protests it likely would spark — could grow violent. But he said that Coulter and her representatives made clear in communication with him and other student organizers that she intends to go through with her plans to appear at the public plaza if no venue is provided. 
 
 “We’re worried about it turning into a huge battle between her security and conservative militia and antifascists and others,” Jandhyala said. “To have that right in the middle of Sproul doesn’t bode well for the image of our school or the city. We’re worried about violence and student safety and our own safety as well. It’s a huge safety concern.” 
 
 He said the exact time of Coulter’s speech is still uncertain. “She said she doesn’t even know her full schedule on Thursday right now. She’s going to know Thursday morning and relay to us when she plans to come to Sproul,” Jandhyala said. 
 
 When Jandhyala’s group, the politically moderate Bridges USA, teamed up with Berkeley’s College Republicans to invite Coulter to campus, the goal was to facilitate a dialogue about immigration. 
 
 “It’s an issue that hits home for many of our students,” Jandhyala said. “Berkeley is a sanctuary city. We have many undocumented immigrant students. That’s why it seemed like a good issue to put on the table. UC-Berkeley can represent the liberal point of view very well. So what we were trying to do with Coulter was to bring in an opposing view to have a dialogue about it.” 
 
 While that was the original purpose, Jandhyala acknowledged that Coulter might now have a different agenda for her appearance: “Her goal is testing the limits of speech and doing all she can to uphold this value and prove what’s possible and not back down from free speech.” 
 
 An outdoor speech at the plaza probably would make it difficult for any dialogue or interaction with students, he said, and his group is trying to have a separate event with her that would allow for conversation. 
 
 The Young America’s Foundation, a group fighting First Amendment cases on many campuses, announced in a statement Tuesday that they had assumed Berkeley would provide adequate security for an event that was part of its national lecture series. But they said the University of California Police Department’s policies would allow “the leftist thugs who have terrorized Berkeley’s campus to do so without consequence.” 
 
 They said they had asked for things including a central location that could hold hundreds of participants in the afternoon or early evening, a statement from the university expressing zero tolerance for masked agitators, and sufficient security including coordination with city police. 
 
 “As of 4:00 p.m. today, UC-Berkeley failed to meet our demands, after refusing to provide a proper venue for six weeks. Berkeley made it impossible to hold a lecture due to the lack of assurances for protections from foreseeable violence from unrestrained leftist agitators,” the group said in a statement. “Berkeley should be ashamed for creating this hostile atmosphere.” 
 
 The group is pressing forward with its lawsuit, the statement continues, and “Ms. Coulter may still choose to speak in some form on campus, but Young America’s Foundation will not jeopardize the safety of its staff or students.” 
 
 Dan Mogulof, a university spokesman, said the school does not discuss security arrangements in detail, but he said officials will take extraordinary steps to protect the campus, in coordination with local and regional law enforcement. 
 
 “At UC-Berkeley, we don’t have gates,” Mogulof said. “There are probably literally hundreds of ways to come onto campus from the city. We don’t have a drawbridge or moat. We are a completely porous campus.” 
 
 Dirks had a message for extremists: “I’d like to ask them to stay away. It’s a college campus. If they want to come and engage in free speech, that’s great. If they want to come and disrupt and engage in other activities, they should stay away from the university.” 
 
 Matt Zapotosky and Perry Stein contributed to this report. 
 
 This post has been updated. ||||| Coulter expected to speak at Sproul Plaza on Thursday 
 
 Conservative commentator Ann Coulter plans to speak at UC Berkeley’s Sproul Plaza on Thursday, campus officials said, prompting the university and the city to scramble to prepare for what they fear could be another violent showdown between fans and opponents of President Trump. 
 
 Coulter is expected to bring her own security for the afternoon appearance, but campus officials — who had urged her to reschedule for a later date — believe that won’t be sufficient. 
 
 “We’re going to be doing what we can in this short amount of time that’s left to provide safety and security to our students, other members of the campus community, the public, and, if need be, Ms. Coulter,” UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof said Tuesday. 
 
 Coulter’s appearance was again thrown into question late Tuesday when she tweeted that she was still expecting Berkeley “to provide a room,” despite the fact that officials have said they cannot offer a safe venue for her to speak. 
 
 UC cannot bar Coulter from speaking in Sproul Plaza, Mogulof said. Besides being one of the main campus entrances, Sproul has historic significance as the birthplace of the Free Speech Movement in 1964. 
 
 “The university has neither the ability nor desire to keep people off this campus,” Mogulof said. “Sproul Plaza is open to the public.” 
 
 But, he added, “You can’t have free speech if your event is canceled” due to violence. Mogulof said time and location are key factors in the ability of campus and city police to ensure safety, which is why the university opposed a Coulter visit on Thursday. 
 
 It was not immediately clear exactly when Coulter plans to show up at Sproul, but right-wing groups were using online chat groups to organize a campus visit to coincide with Coulter’s appearance, and they were calling on supporters to be “battle ready.” 
 
 Coulter was originally invited to speak Thursday by the Berkeley College Republicans, but UC officials said there was no available venue where they could ensure the safety of those attending or protesting the event after police learned of threats of violence. 
 
 University officials offered to reschedule to May 2, but Coulter refused, saying the proposed date was during “Dead Week,” when students would be studying for finals. 
 
 Students associated with the Berkeley College Republicans and Young America’s Foundation, the sponsor of the speech, sued the University of California on Monday, saying that not providing a place for Coulter to speak Thursday amounted to unconstitutional censorship. 
 
 On Tuesday, Young America’s Foundation, a conservative youth group, backed out of the event, saying UC Berkeley had failed to promise that it would protect people from “leftist thugs.” 
 
 The group said it wanted UC to “announce that there will be zero tolerance at the event itself for masked agitators, disruption of the event, and sufficient security to ensure the safety of attendees.” 
 
 “UC Berkeley failed to meet our demands, after refusing to provide a proper venue for six weeks. Therefore, Young America’s Foundation will not be moving forward with an event at Berkeley on April 27 due to the lack of assurances for protections from foreseeable violence from unrestrained leftist agitators,” the group said. 
 
 Pranav Jandhyala, co-founder of BridgeUSA, a nonpartisan campus group helping to organize Coulter’s visit, said he still hoped organizers could find an indoor venue. But he said he worried that a Coulter appearance on Sproul would result in violence and destruction. 
 
 “Honestly, if it were up to me we would do it on a future date,” he said. “If it were up to me, she wouldn’t do it on Sproul. It’s not up to me. It’s up to her.” 
 
 Coulter has said in social media posts that she will show up Thursday because she already had a contract to do so. 
 
 UC police canceled an appearance in February by another far-right speaker, Milo Yiannopoulos, after a riot began just before his speech was to be delivered. On April 15, 11 people were injured and 20 arrested when Trump supporters and opponents battled in a downtown Berkeley park. 
 
 “The University of California welcomes speakers of all political viewpoints and is committed to providing a forum to enable Ann Coulter to speak on the Berkeley campus,” Dianne Klein, spokeswoman for UC President Janet Napolitano, said in a statement. “The campus seeks to ensure that all members of the Berkeley and larger community — including Ms. Coulter herself — remain safe during such an event.” 
 
 Students and staff at UC Berkeley opposed to Coulter’s appearance said Tuesday that they planned to hold a demonstration at 5 p.m. Thursday. 
 
 Students affiliated with the International Socialist Organization and labor groups on the Cal campus said they will rally Thursday afternoon regardless of Coulter’s plans. 
 
 “As the narrative around when, where, and if Ann Coulter will speak at UC Berkeley changes day by day, we know one thing for certain: We stand against xenophobic, bigoted language, and we are in solidarity with undocumented students, community members, and all marginalized populations,” the organization said in a Facebook invitation to the rally. 
 
 “It’s important that regardless of what the alt-right is doing on and off campus, that our side, the oppressed majority, continues to get organized,” said Mukund Rathi, a first-year law student at the university and part of the International Socialist Organization. 
 
 Although he disagrees with Coulter’s politics, Rathi said, UC shouldn’t be deciding whether or when she can appear. 
 
 “The university should not be playing a role in deciding who does or who does not get to speak on campus,” he said. 
 
 Chronicle staff writer Michael Bodley contributed to this report. 
 
 Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker ||||| Following a series of disagreements with campus administration over possible speaking event dates and venues, conservative author Ann Coulter has confirmed that she will speak on campus Thursday regardless of security concerns raised by UCPD, according to Pranav Jandhyala, founder and co-president of BridgeUSA. 
 
 Coulter was invited by Berkeley College Republicans, or BCR, and BridgeUSA to speak on campus Thursday, April 27 on the topic of illegal immigration. After UCPD learned that certain groups responsible for inciting violence at Milo Yiannopoulos’s event in February were planning to make an appearance at Coulter’s event, however, campus administration announced that it was postponing Coulter’s speech to September. 
 
 On Thursday, the campus rescinded its previous decision to postpone Coulter’s speech and extended an invitation to the right-wing author to speak May 2. Coulter, however, raised concerns that the proposed date falls during RRR week, when instruction has ended. The campus is no longer planning to host the event May 2 after BCR threatened to file a lawsuit — and BCR did file a lawsuit Monday. 
 
 Campus spokesperson Dan Mogulof said Coulter’s concerns were confusing to the administration because she initially objected to giving her speech Thursday afternoon, when students would be in class. 
 
 Jandhyala said Coulter’s concerns were misinterpreted. Coulter’s main concern was that during RRR week, students are more likely to be studying for finals and therefore might be less inclined to listen to her speech, according to Jandhyala. 
 
 Jandhyala expressed concerns regarding the negative image that recent protests have shed upon the campus. He said it is important for people outside the campus community to recognize that the violence is not a reflection of the campus, but rather of unaffiliated groups hoping to stir up trouble. 
 
 “What I’m worried about is our campus community, and our community as a whole, looking like it’s something it’s not,” Jandhyala said. 
 
 A member of BCR could not be reached for comment. 
 
 According to Mogulof, the campus is coordinating with UCPD to do whatever is necessary to protect students and members of the community. UC San Francisco’s Office of the Chief confirmed that it has been called to assist UC Berkeley’s UCPD in securing the event Thursday. 
 
 “We will have an increased law enforcement presence on our campus to ensure the safety of our community,” said UCPD spokesperson Sgt. Sabrina Reich in an email. 
 
 According to Jandhyala, despite the possibility of UCPD security at the event, violence is nearly guaranteed to break out if Coulter gives her speech on Sproul Plaza. 
 
 “We’re definitely going to try to do everything that we can to turn a speech that might end up being violent into an event where dialogue between students can be created,” Jandhyala said. 
 
 Contact Amber Tang at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter at @ambertang_dc.
– Ann Coulter has promised to deliver an outdoor speech at the University of California-Berkeley on Thursday, and police, university officials, and even one of the groups that invited her to speak are worried about clashes. After disagreements over dates and venues for her speech, Coulter says she'll stick with the original date of April 27 and speak at the open-air Sproul Plaza despite security concerns, the Daily Californian reports. The plaza was the birthplace of the Free Speech Movement in 1964. "The university has neither the ability nor desire to keep people off this campus," a university spokesman tells the San Francisco Chronicle. "Sproul Plaza is open to the public." Far-right groups have urged supporters to be "battle ready," and the Young America's Foundation conservative youth group says it's pulling out of the event because it fears "leftist thugs." Pranav Jandhyala, leader of BridgeUSA, one of two student groups that invited Coulter to speak, tells the Washington Post that the group is scrambling to find an off-campus venue for Coulter. "We're worried about it turning into a huge battle between her security and conservative militia and antifascists and others," Jandhyala says. "We're worried about violence and student safety and our own safety as well." Violent protests shut down a Berkeley talk by Milo Yiannopoulos in February.