Protests erupted at the University of Pittsburgh following a debate on transgender ideology featuring Daily Wire host Michael Knowles and journalist Brad Polumbo.
The topic of discussion, "Should transgenderism be regulated by law?" has been a contentious issue on college campuses nationwide. The event took a dangerous turn when a loud explosion was heard and felt in the debate room, causing Pitt to send an emergency alert to students about a public safety emergency, as reported by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
According to the newspaper, the protests continued outside even after the debate. Demonstrators chanted, yelled, played drums and cowbells, and held LGBTQ flags while police urged them to clear off the streets. The protests reportedly turned violent, with one protester setting fire to a cardboard cutout with Knowles' face.
Knowles retweeted a video of the protests on his official Twitter account and shared articles and posts about the event, held on Tuesday night. Polumbo also took to Twitter to address the agitators on campus directly, stating that they should "grow the hell up" and condemning their attempts to interrupt and shout down the event, set off fireworks in the street, and reportedly assaulted four police officers.
The University of Pittsburgh has been embroiled in controversies that have received national attention, including demands from the university's LGTBQ task force to expand housing and health care to transgender students. In a post on Instagram, the task force wrote that "these centers need to not be buried deep in an org chart. LGBTQIA+ staff hired NEED to have some level of autonomy over collaboration, programming, and resource sharing. No more of this BS departmental/division gate-keeping."
The chaos at the University of Pittsburgh has also been criticized by athlete Riley Gaines, a 12-time All-American swimmer who called out the double standard conservative speakers face on leftist college campuses. Gaines highlighted that when conservative speaker Dylan Mulvaney visited UPitt, he was paid $26,000 from school funding. In contrast, she was protested, threatened with violence, and attempts were made to cancel her appearance.
The University of Pittsburgh issued a statement on its website about the incident, stating that an Emergency Notification Service message was sent to the campus community alerting them to an incident outside of the O'Hara Student Center. The statement also revealed that several buildings were temporarily closed and visitors to residence halls restricted as a safety precaution until an all-clear could be issued.
The incident at the University of Pittsburgh underscores the ongoing challenges facing conservative college-space speakers, highlighting the need for open dialogue and respectful debate on contentious issues.
Login