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BERKELEY, Calif. University of California, Berkeley students who invited Ann Coulter to speak on campus filed a lawsuit Monday against the university, saying it is discriminating against conservative speakers and violating students' rights to free speech.

A legal team led by Harmeet Dhillon, a San Francisco attorney who represents the Berkeley College Republicans, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.

Dhillon is also a committeewoman to the Republican National Convention for California and former vice chairwoman of the California Republican Party.

"This case arises from efforts by one of California's leading public universities, UC Berkeley once known as the "birthplace of the Free Speech Movement" to restrict and stifle the speech of conservative students whose voices fall beyond the campus political orthodoxy," the lawsuit says.

Campus Republicans invited Coulter to speak at Berkeley this Thursday, but Berkeley officials informed the group last week that the event was being called off for security concerns.

The cancellation came after a series of violent clashes this year on campus and in downtown Berkeley between far-right and far-left protesters.

The university then backtracked and offered an alternate date, but Coulter has insisted that she plans to still come Thursday.

Coulter tweeted Monday that the lawsuit "demands appropriate & safe venue for my speech THIS THURSDAY."

The lawsuit demands unstated damages, compensation for attorney fees, a trial by jury and an injunction against Berkeley officials from "restricting the exercise of political expression on the UC Berkeley campus."

UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof said the university's attorneys were reviewing the complaint but were confident that "we are on very solid legal grounds." The university and its police department say they have credible intelligence of security concerns if the event goes ahead Thursday and they need to balance their need to allow free speech with the need to ensure campus security.

"The constitution permits the university to take such steps to protect public safety while facilitating expressive activities, and that is exactly what we are doing," Mogulof said.

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Ann Coulter's backers at UC Berkeley file lawsuit | Fox News

The hecklers used their veto.

Conservative commentator Ann Coulter told Fox News on Wednesday she would no longer give a planned speech at UC Berkeley after Young Americas Foundation pulled its support for the event amid threats of violence, calling her decision "a dark day for free speech in America."

The speech was originally scheduled to take place Thursday but Berkeley asked to postpone it until next month after protests over the planned speech grew into a nationally-watched firestorm.

"I looked over my shoulder and my allies had joined the other team."

- Ann Coulter

BERKELEY COLLEGE REPUBLICANS EXPLAIN LAWSUIT

Coulter, YAF -- which had helped organize and finance the event -- and the Berkeley College Republicans initially fought the schools decision, with YAF and the college Republicans filing a civil rights lawsuit on Monday. But by Wednesday YAF had actively opposed Coulters speech, she said, and ordered the lawyer not [to] file for [a] court order which would have mandated a room for the talk. The college Republicans are bound by YAFs decision, Coulter said, so theres nothing more I can do.

I looked over my shoulder and my allies had joined the other team, Coulter said in an email.

In a series of tweets, Coulter said she was "so sorry for free speech crushed by thugs."

"Its sickening when a radical thuggish institution like Berkeley can so easily snuff out the cherished American right to free speech," she tweeted.

'THE FIVE' ON ANN COULTER AT UC BERKELEY

In a Tuesday statement posted to the YAF website and signed by both YAF and the executive board of the college Republicans, the groups said Berkeley "failed to meet our demands" to provide a safe environment for the speech.

"Ms. Coulter may still choose to speak in some form on campus, but Young America's Foundation will not jeopardize the safety of its staff or students," the statement said.

YAF said Wednesday the group would hold a 4 p.m. ET news conference.

"The lawsuit has not been dropped," said YAF spokesman Spencer Brown. "At no time did Berkeley provide a time or place for Coulter to speak, and unconstitutionally violated the First Amendment rights of students in preventing YAF's campus lecture from taking place. We are moving ahead with the lawsuit."

Coulter was coy about what she would be doing instead of giving the talk.

I think Im still going to Berkeley, but there will be no speech, Coulter said Wednesday.

The university's attempt to call off the event came after a series of violent clashes this year on campus and in downtown Berkeley between far-right and far-left protesters.

The lawsuit demands unstated damages and compensation for attorney fees, a trial by jury and an injunction against Berkeley officials from "restricting the exercise of political expression on the UC Berkeley campus."

It names four university officials as defendants, including University of California President Janet Napolitano and Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas B. Dirks, and three police officials, including university police chief Margo Bennett.

The University of California president's office issued a statement saying it welcomes speakers of all political viewpoints and "is committed to providing a forum to enable Ann Coulter to speak on the Berkeley campus."

"The campus seeks to ensure that all members of the Berkeley and larger community -- including Ms. Coulter herself -- remain safe during such an event."

Fox News Michael Lundin and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Ann Coulter cancels Berkeley event amid protests | Fox News

New York Times

Ann Coulter Says She Will Pull Out of Speech at Berkeley New York Times Ann Coulter said Wednesday that she is canceling her planned speech at the University of California, Berkeley, because she had lost the backing of conservative groups that had initially sponsored her appearance. Ms. Coulter, in a message to The New ... Ann Coulter speech at UC Berkeley canceled after loss of conservative groups' supportUSA TODAY Ann Coulter says her Berkeley speech canceledCNN Ann Coulter already made her point about free speech. Going to Berkeley anyway would have been reckless.Washington Post Los Angeles Times -Fox News -CNBC -Young America's Foundation all 392 news articles »

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Ann Coulter Says She Will Pull Out of Speech at Berkeley - New York Times

April 25, 2017 BERKELEY, Calif.AnnCoulteris now at the center of a civil rights lawsuit filed Monday against the University of California, Berkeley by students who say the school is violating their right to free speech by canceling the conservative pundit's speaking event on campus this week.

The lawsuit marks the latest twist in a high-profile debate over whether Ms. Coulterwill be allowed to speak Thursday at UC Berkeley, which has been known for decades as a bastion of free speech and tolerance and the birthplace of the 1960s Free Speech Movement.

A legal team led by Harmeet Dhillon, a San Francisco attorney who is also a prominent California Republican, filed the case on behalf of the Berkeley College Republicans, who invitedCoulter, and the Young America's Foundation, which is helping to organize and finance the event.

"Berkeley is well known as a place where ideas used to be welcome. At least on the conservative side. At least until this recent election," Ms. Dhillon told a news conference after filing the lawsuit at the US District Court in San Francisco. "The university is required to give equal access to speakers of different viewpoints."

The lawsuit says that Berkeley is trying "to restrict and stifle the speech of conservative students whose voices fall beyond the campus political orthodoxy."

Dhillon is also a committeewoman to the Republican National Convention for California and former vice chairwoman of the California Republican Party.

Campus Republicans invitedCoulterto speak at Berkeley this Thursday, but Berkeley officials informed the group last week that the event was being called off for security concerns.

The university then backtracked and offered an alternate date, butCoulterhas insisted that she plans to still come Thursday. It remains unclear where she would hold the event, and no details have been publicized.

Coulteris not a plaintiff on the lawsuit. But she voiced support for it on Twitter, posting Monday that the lawsuit "demands appropriate & safe venue for my speech THIS THURSDAY."

The university's attempt to call off the event came after a series of violent clashes this year on campus and in downtown Berkeley between far-right and far-left protesters.

The lawsuit demands unstated damages and compensation for attorney fees, a trial by jury and an injunction against Berkeley officials from "restricting the exercise of political expression on the UC Berkeley campus."

It names four university officials as defendants, including University of California President Janet Napolitano and Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas B. Dirks, and three police officials, including university police chief Margo Bennett.

The University of California president's office issued a statement saying it welcomes speakers of all political viewpoints and "is committed to providing a forum to enableAnnCoulterto speak on the Berkeley campus."

"The campus seeks to ensure that all members of the Berkeley and larger community including Ms.Coulterherself remain safe during such an event."

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Ann Coulter backers sue UC Berkeley over cancellation (+video) - Christian Science Monitor

BERKELEY The furor over whether conservative pundit Ann Coulter willget a chance to speak at UC Berkeley this week continued to grow on Monday, with a conservative student group suing the university and Coultersuggesting she may show up Thursday even if shes not offered a venue to speak.

With the First Amendment clash drawing national attention, Coulter tweeted on Monday, Nice day for an outdoor speech at Berkeley, accompanied by four days of weather forecasts, Tuesday through Friday.

The university continues to maintain that it never agreed to provide a speaking venue to Coulter for this Thursday, cannot guarantee her security on that day, and has offered an alternative date May 2 for her to speak.

At a news conference Monday at the San Francisco office of Dhillon Law Group Inc., Harmeet Dhillon, attorney for Berkeley College Republicans and Tennessee-based Young Americas Foundation, said UC Berkeley abruptly canceled Coulters scheduled speech for this Thursday after weeks of discussion and a lot of back and forth. But UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof said later on Monday thatthe event was never canceled, because it was never scheduled, because we were unable to identify a venue. All suitable venues had previously been booked, he said.

In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco on Monday against UC Berkeley officials and University of California President Janet Napolitano, Dhillon seeks a judicial declaration that the university has violated her clients Constitutional rights under the First and Fourteenth amendments by selectively enforcing the High-Profile Speaker Policy against (Berkeley College Republicans) and (Young Americas Foundation), which unreasonably restricts the time, place and manner of political speech. The complaint also seeks an injunction against the applicationof any policies that restrict political expression on the UC Berkeley campus, as well as the awarding of attorneysfees and court costs.

At the news conference, Dhillonreiterated and expounded on many of the allegations in the suit and in letters she wrote to the university on Friday.

She accused the university of having come up with the high-profile speaker policy recently and secretly and using it to silence two of her clients speakers Coulter and, earlier this month, conservative writer David Horowitz while allowing a former Clinton administration official and former Mexican President Vicente Fox, a critic of President Donald Trump, to speak.

She also accused UC Berkeley police of standing down during violent protests against a scheduled Feb. 1 appearance by former Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulosthat was canceled shortly before it was supposed to start, after a group of masked protesters smashed windows at the student union building and set fires outside. She cited the Yiannopoulos cancellation as an example of the exercise of the hecklers veto,a legal doctrine in which thegovernment prevents a public speech or event on threats of interruptions, protests or violence.

The university is feeling increasing pressure from both the left and right to respect and defend Coulters free speech rights, with both liberal Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, and liberal comedian Bill Maher speaking out in recent days. In an interview on Fox News on Saturday, Coulter said she was still optimistic she would be allowed to speak Thursday.

I dont think it should be that hard to arrange, Ive done it hundreds of times, gone to college campuses she said.

Dianne Klein, the University of Californias associate vice president for strategic communications andmedia relations, said in a statement Monday that the university welcomesspeakers of all political viewpoints and is committed to providing a forum to enable Ann Coulter to speak on the Berkeley campus.

The allegation that Ms. Coulter is being prohibited from speaking because of her conservative views is untrue, Klein said, adding that the university is working to finda mutually agreeable time for Coulter to appear, while ensuring Coulters and the university and larger communitys safety.

At a news conference last week, UC Berkeley police Capt. Alex Yao said very specific and credible threats of violence had been received in connection with the announced Coulter event for Thursday.

Dhillon has said the alternate, two-hour, afternoon time window on May 2 that the university had offered is unacceptable because, among other reasons, students will not be in class that day and will be studying for finals.

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Lawsuit filed against UC Berkeley over Ann Coulter event - The Mercury News