Protesters vandalized the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison hours ahead of an appearance by Daily Wire host Matt Walsh on Monday evening.
Vandals scrawled profanities against Walsh and the school’s Young America’s Foundation (YAF) chapter, which is hosting Walsh.
“Today we saw an absolutely inexcusable act of vandalism on our most beloved campus building, which is dedicated to veterans, ahead of @MattWalshBlog’s visit,” the university’s YAF chapter tweeted Monday, along with several pictures of the damage.
Campus leftists can’t handle the fact that we’re bringing a speaker to campus whose views differ from theirs because they’re used to being coddled by @UWMadison. pic.twitter.com/6WThFf5b4b
— Wisconsin YAF (@WisconsinYAF) October 24, 2022
Some more of the graffiti: pic.twitter.com/0CPhtJniTr
— Tyler Katzenberger (@tk_kutz) October 24, 2022
“Trans women are women – f**k Matt Walsh and YAF,” read a spray-painted scrawl on the wall of one campus building.
“Matt Walsh is a pedophile,” read another message. “Save the kids from him.”
Other spray-painted messages on buildings compared Walsh to a “Nazi” and directed profanities toward the university itself as well.
The event with Walsh is sold out and includes a screening of Walsh’s film “What Is A Woman?” after which Walsh will take questions from the audience.
The university’s Memorial Union building, where Walsh is scheduled to speak, as well as various other structures and a statue of the school’s mascot Bucky Badger were vandalized with graffiti.
Over the weekend, Dean of Students Christina Olstad and Gabe Javier, an associate vice chancellor, put out a statement on social media offering their support to the transgender students ahead of Walsh’s speech.
“To the trans members of our UW-Madison community, we see you and we value you,” they wrote. “We will continue to do our part to make this campus more welcoming and inclusive regardless of what speakers may counter this value.”
Meanwhile, the YAF chapter said that they are pressing forward despite the vandalism.
“Despite @UWMadison’s immaturity and inconsistency and this absolutely reprehensible vandalism, we’re excited to put on a great event tonight and thank @yaf and @MattWalshBlog for all their help and support,” the chapter tweeted.