SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – The University of Utah plans to roll out a ramped-up police presence Wednesday night for a divisive conservative speaker, following a model it learned when it sent a team to see how the University of California, Berkeley, handled a similar speech earlier this month.
Though Utah doesn’t have a history of free speech protests and violence like Berkeley, a liberal bastion and the birthplace of the American free speech movement, officials at Utah’s flagship college didn’t want to take any chances amid a climate of heightened political tensions.
The University of Utah leans more liberal than the rest of the conservative state, much like Salt Lake City, where it’s located. The city has had some unrest during protests in recent years against police shootings and white extremism as well as at a Donald Trump campaign rally.
The University of Utah aims to strike a delicate balance to protect protesters and people attending a speech by former Breitbart editor Ben Shapiro, while trying to avoid a “police state” atmosphere, school spokesman Chris Nelson said.
“There’s no concern about peaceful protest, in fact we embrace and support it,” Nelson said. “What we’re preparing for is any violence, any type of clashes.”