<p>The University of Wisconsin-Madison backed down from plans to charge a conservative group a special &#8220;security&#8221; fee for bringing Daily Wire host Michael Knowles to campus, seemingly rewarding lawless protesters with a heckler&#8217;s veto by making conservatives pay for police to stop leftists from committing crimes.</p>
<p>Ahead of Knowles&#8217; speech on campus Wednesday, college administrators told Young Americans for Freedom that they would have to pay $4,271.17 for six police officers, a metal detector, and other security-related costs&#8211;even charging &#8220;sales tax&#8221; despite being seemingly inapplicable. The university did not return a request for comment from The Daily Wire, but reversed its decision on Monday afternoon in the face of accusations that what it was doing was &#8220;unlawful.&#8221;</p>
<p>The university has not billed student groups for &#8220;security&#8221; for hosting speakers in the past, the Wisconsin Institute for Law &amp; Liberty (WILL) and the Mountain States Legal Foundation <a href="https://will-law.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/FINAL-UW-Letter-3-8-24.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a>, saying the costs are &#8220;unlawful.&#8221;</p>
<p>The charge was purportedly the result of a &#8220;risk assessment worksheet&#8221; that said there were &#8220;significant security/safety problems at event sponsor events (in last 2 years).&#8221;</p>
<p>That may be a reference to the fact that leftists <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/wisconsin-college-campus-vandalized-ahead-of-matt-walshs-speech" target="_blank" rel="noopener">committed large-scaled vandalism</a>, with profane messages spray-painted on prominent historic buildings, when YAF brought another Daily Wire host, Matt Walsh, to campus in 2022. University police have video of that occurring, yet chose &#8220;not to prosecute or otherwise punish the perpetrators, and UWPD has refused to release public records related to the incident to YAF,&#8221; the letter to Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin said.</p>
<p>Also contributing could be the fact that last April, pro-transgenderism protesters allegedly committed crimes including igniting an &#8220;incendiary device&#8221; to derail a speech by Knowles at the University of Pittsburgh, after plotting to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/knowles-unfazed-as-pro-trans-protesters-bid-to-disrupt-pitt-debate" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&#8220;shut it down.&#8221;</a> Two people were later charged by the federal government with conspiracy and obstruction of law enforcement. One of them, Brian DiPippa, was also charged with using an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/two-protesters-from-michael-knowles-pitt-debate-on-transgenderism-indicted" target="_blank" rel="noopener">explosive to commit a federal felony</a>.</p>
<p>In other words, the university was punishing conservatives for the fact that liberals committed crimes to silence or victimize them — all while not punishing those liberal wrongdoers, the letter said, adding that such a policy encourages more left-wing crimes.</p>
<p>On Monday afternoon, UW backed down from the demand without conceding any mistake or pledging reforms.</p>
<p>&#8220;Solely to ensure that the speaker event moves forward in this tight timeframe, the contract is being revised to remove charges related to the extensive security protocols,&#8221; Nancy Lynch, UW-Madison’s vice chancellor for legal affairs, wrote.</p>
<p>UW did not bill YAF for security for the Walsh event or for a similar one with Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shapiro. There is no indication it has charged left-wing speakers for security, including the &#8220;controversial&#8221; Bradley Manning, a felon who stole classified documents, or Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).</p>
<p>&#8220;According to WILL’s own public records requests, UW-Madison did not charge controversial author Nikole Hannah-Jones (author of the historically inaccurate 1619 Project) for security in 2022—in fact, UW-Madison actually paid her $55,000,&#8221; the legal group&#8217;s letter said.</p>
<p>The letter from YAF&#8217;s lawyers said UW &#8220;apparently believes that Knowles’s speech presents more of a security concern exactly because of the content of his speech, and the public reaction to that speech. But a policy like UW’s is invalid if it &#8216;ties the amount of the fee to the content of the speech.'&#8221; It warned that &#8220;individual UW actors may be personally liable for their involvement in these constitutional violations.&#8221;</p>
<p>The University of California, Berkeley similarly tried to charge YAF for security aimed at restraining leftist would-be lawbreakers, and &#8220;ultimately settled with YAF by paying $70,000 in attorney fees and agreed to revise campus policies for hosting speakers,&#8221; the letter said.</p>
<p>Knowles, ironically, authored a book on censorship called <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Speechless-Controlling-Words-Minds/dp/1684510821" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&#8220;Speechless.&#8221;</a> His speech at Madison is a pro-life address called &#8220;The Case Against Murder.&#8221;</p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">“Freedom of speech is not negotiable,&#8221; Dan Lennington, WILL Deputy Counsel said in a statement. &#8220;Charging a conservative group thousands of dollars for a so-called ‘controversial’ speaker is ridiculous, especially since UW-Madison routinely hosts—and even pays—controversial leftwing speakers. UW-Madison should be happy to support multiple viewpoints and a robust exchange of ideas.&#8221;</span></p>
<p>UW is a public institution that says it &#8220;values freedom of expression as an essential part of its educational mission&#8221; and helpfully <a href="https://free-expression.wisc.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">explains</a> to its students, &#8220;What is the First Amendment?&#8221;</p>
<p>DiPippa, the man charged with allegedly using an explosive device at Knowles&#8217; University of Pittsburgh speech, remains in jail while awaiting trial, despite a letter from a &#8220;DEI coach and consultant&#8221; named Nancy Kahn, who <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.pawd.300848/gov.uscourts.pawd.300848.54.1.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote to the judge</a> that he should be released because he is &#8220;self aware of his male privilege.&#8221;</p>
<p>Kahn, who told the judge her pronouns were &#8220;she/her + BIPOC,&#8221; is Managing Principal of the Across Differences Coaching Institute and Consultancy and said she worked with DiPippa at talk radio station KPFA.</p>

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College Backs Down From Plan To Charge Conservatives ‘Security’ Fee To Host Michael Knowles