Gavin McInnes At NYU: 11 Protesters Arrested After Trying To Block Right-Wing Speaker

WASHINGTON SQUARE, MANHATTAN — A group of anti-fascism activists tried to physically block Canadian right-wing comedian and Vice Media co-founder Gavin McInnes from entering the NYU Kimmel Center for University Life on Thursday evening, where he was invited to give a speech by the NYU College Republicans.

Eleven people were arrested Thursday night, police said, after a scuffle broke out between cops and activists on both the right and left.

Photos and videos from the scene showed NYPD officers tackling protesters who had apparently rushed McInnes.

A "Make America Great Again" hat was also set on fire at the protest, and cops had to stomp on it to put out the flames, according to DNAinfo reporter Noah Hurowitz:

Another right-wing speaker was blocked from entering the University of California, Berkley, campus the night before by anti-fascism activists. That protest reportedly turned violent.

An NYU campus group called "NYU Anti-Fascists" planned their protest for 6:30 p.m. Thursday at 60 Washington Square South. McInnes arrived to speak around 7 p.m.

Unlike at Berkeley, though, McInnes successfully made his way through the mob.

A few protesters lingered on the street outside for the duration of his talk, waiting for him to come back out. But in the end, he apparently slipped out undetected.

Police were waiting, too:

"If he doesn't respect people's lives, we don't need to respect his words," one protester, who identified herself only as Leah, said of McInnes.

"Come to Kimmel, Rosenthal Pavilion to let NYU know that we will not stand for bigotry, racism, homophobia, transphobia, misogyny on our campus," a Facebook event page for the protest said.

"Gavin McInnes has a long track record of using incendiary language to attract media attention and frenzy," the event said. "In 2014, McInnes published an article entitled Transphobia is Perfectly Normal — it refers to transwomen as 'trannies' and 'mentally ill people [who] mutilate themselves.'"

Lead photo via Wikimedia Commons. With additional reporting and photos by Ciara McCarthy and Brendan Krisel