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Milo Yiannopoulos/Martin Shkreli UC-Davis event shut down before it even begins
(Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Milo Yiannopoulos/Martin Shkreli UC-Davis event shut down before it even begins

Infamous online personality Milo Yiannopoulos and infamous former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli were scheduled to speak Friday at University of California-Davis, but the event was canceled by organizers before it even began due to protests.

Yiannopoulos, Breitbart's technology editor, and Shkreli, former CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, never even took the stage after sponsors consulted with campus police following a protest of the event. A large group evidently blocked access to the venue while protestors chanted, "Say it loud, say it clear, racists are not welcome here."

British-born Yiannopoulos, an ardent supporter of President-elect Donald Trump is sometimes associated with the "alt-right" and has been vilified in the press and public for his alleged racism and use of technology to relentlessly mock and deride those who disagree with his political and policy views. Last month, he announced his book deal with Threshold Editions, a part of Simon & Schuster. His book, according to a self-released press statement, is an explainer of the "populist, nationalist Trump phenomenon."

Earlier this year, Yiannopoulos was banned for life from Twitter for his role in the harassment of actress Leslie Jones.

Shkreli, currently under investigation for fraud, has been similarly vilified for instructing his pharmaceutical company to exorbitantly increase the price of an effective treatment for AIDS-related illnesses. He was also recently temporarily banned from Twitter for making advances on a female writer for Teen Vogue.

Following the cancellation of the UC-Davis event, Shkreli called the protest, "disgusting" and Yiannopoulos told supporters the speech was canceled due to violence from left-wing protestors.

UC-Davis Interim Chancellor Ralph J. Hexter expressed disappointment that the event was canceled, telling CNN, "I am deeply disappointed with the events of this evening. Our community is founded on principles of respect for all views, even those that we personally find repellent. As I have stated repeatedly, a university is at its best when it listens to and critically engages opposing views, especially ones that many of us find upsetting or even offensive."

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