Trump questions University of California's funding after protests

Washington, Feb 3
The US President raised questions about whether the University of California should continue receiving federal funds after demonstrators at the Berkeley campus forced the cancellation of a speech by Trump supporter Milo Yiannopoulos.

"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 Trump said in a Twitter post on Thursday.

The 33-year-old Yannopoulos is a vocal far-right supporter of Trump and self-proclaimed Internet troll. His comments have been criticized as racist, misogynist, anti-Muslim and white supremacist.

He was forced to cancel a speech on Wednesday at UC-Berkeley when protests against his appearance turned violent.

Writing on his Facebook page, Yiannopoulos said he had been evacuated from the Berkeley campus when "violent leftist demonstrators" put up barricades, set fires and threw rocks and fireworks at the building's windows.

Hundreds of protesters gathered on Wednesday afternoon at Berkeley and some of them clashed with police.

Once Yiannopoulos's speech was cancelled, the gathering turned into a celebration with music and dancing as police looked on.

Yiannopoulos, a controversial British writer, works as an editor for Breitbart News, a media outlet run until last August by Steve Bannon, who is now the chief strategist for Trump at the White House.