An updated version of this article can be found here.
[pullquote-yale]An event hosted by two student groups, Students in Support of Free Speech (SSFS), and Generation Screwed called “Toronto Action Forum” was shut down at approximately 5:10 pm following protests.
The event was hosted at the Sandford Fleming building with programming scheduled until 5:30 pm. The keynote speakers of the event were Ezra Levant, the head of the right-wing media company The Rebel , and Jordan Peterson, the U of T psychology professor who made international headlines after releasing a YouTube video series called ‘Professor against political correctness.’
The protests began at approximately 4:00 pm. The fire alarm was pulled during the speech of Levant, who carried on addressing a crowd outside for a short time after the building was evacuated by police officers, of whom there were about 37.
“Absolutely, we were expecting protests for sure,” Felix Zhou, a member of the SSFS advisory board told The Varsity, “however we did not expect it at this magnitude.”
“I think the fact that we have such controversial speakers, the fact that we’re representing such dissenting opinions opposition is surely [to ensue],” Zhou said.
Some of the protesters appeared to have arrived at the event following a protest at the United States consulate.
This story is developing. More to follow.
With files from Tom Yun and Jack Denton
