US President Donald Trump has threatened to withdraw federal funds from the University of California at Berkeley after violent overnight protests against a planned appearance by a controversial editor of conservative news website Breitbart.
Two hours before Milo Yiannopoulos was to give a speech at the student union, protesters tossed metal barricades and rocks through the building's windows and set a light generator on fire near the entrance, footage from news outlets showed.
Police ordered protesters to disperse as the university put the campus on lockdown.
This morning President Trump questioned whether federal funding should be cut to the university over the protests.
If U.C. Berkeley does not allow free speech and practices violence on innocent people with a different point of view - NO FEDERAL FUNDS?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 2, 2017
Protesters tossed bricks and fireworks at police in riot gear who fired rubber pellets back at the crowd, according to SFGate.com, a news outlet in San Francisco.
"We shut down the event. It was great. Mission accomplished," a protester told CNN.
Some 150 "masked agitators" were responsible for the violence during the otherwise largely peaceful protest of about 1,500 people, the university said in a statement, noting that the school "is proud of its history and legacy as home of the Free Speech Movement" in the 1960s.
Mr Yiannopoulos, who is the Breitbart technology editor, is known for his provocative social media posts and was banned from Twitter in July for fuelling abuse directed at 'Ghostbusters' actress Leslie Jones.
Mr Yiannopoulos later criticised "the Left", saying in a statement it was "absolutely terrified of free speech and will do literally anything to shut it down."
He also said on Fox News that he was evacuated by police after protesters began throwing rocks and other objects at the building.
President Trump's chief strategist, Steve Bannon, previously headed Breitbart News and CNN reported that many of the protesters voiced opposition to the Republican president.
Many of Mr Trump's executive orders and proposed policies, including his suspension of the US refugee programme and temporary ban on travellers from seven Muslim-majority countries, have been met by largely peaceful protests that have drawn tens of thousands of people across the United States.
