Protesters disrupted a speech by Blackwater executive Erik Prince and forced the conservative student group, Young Americans for Freedom (YAF), to cancel the speech, which the protesters called a victory for whatever they stood for. Protesters stacked chairs onto the stage and shouted down Prince and event organizers.
Blackwater is a controversial security company, after several of its military security contractors were charged for killing Iraqi civilians during the Iraq War.
Beloit College condemned the protests and issued a statement, some of which read as follows:
“As an institution of higher learning, open dialogue on all topics is one of our core principles… Tonight’s events fell unacceptably short of this core principle, and we condemn the behavior of those who disrupted the event. The college will begin an investigation immediately.”
Beloit College is a private liberal arts institution located southwest of Milwaukee, close to the Wisconsin-Illinois border.
