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Berkeley 'Free Speech Week' with Bannon will be costly, university president says

^{By BENJAMIN WERMUND | 09/20/2017 02:24 PM EDT | Updated 09/20/2017 04:03 PM EDT}

University of California President Janet Napolitano said Wednesday that the so-called Free Speech Week planned at Berkeley this month that will feature former White House strategist Steve Bannon will be an expensive test for the school that has become the center of debate over free speech on college campuses.

Napolitano said that her office, which oversees the University of California system, will take the unprecedented step of helping Berkeley cover the the "substantial" security costs. That protection is necessary to ensure free speech on campus, she said.

"This will be a test for Berkeley," she said. “It’s a cost that the university is bearing to protect the speakers but also to protect the value of free speech ... But the rock and the hard place that the campus is in, is the value of free speech versus the need to protect the safety and the security of the students and the faculty.”

Napolitano said security for a recent speech by conservative author Ben Shapiro cost the school $600,000. The event this month including Bannon and planned by far right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos is expected to be four days of similar security needs, she said. She would not provide an exact figure.

Bannon's appearance has been billed as "Bannon infiltrates Berkeley."

 

"I think some of these speakers are coming deliberately to provoke, and I think to provoke a response," she said. "But nonetheless they’re coming to speak, they’re coming to put forward controversial and noxious ideas, and, you know, colleges and universities are places where noxious ideas are expressed.

"So how you carry that out, protect that value — that’s the challenge that we face," Napolitano said. "That’s why I think it’s important that if these events are going to occur, that they be done safely and securely and, I think unfortunately that means universities bear the cost."

Still, the former Homeland Security secretary said she's confident the events will be as safe as the school can make them.

"I have been on the phone with the chancellor of Berkeley and their chief of police to go through the security planning and to satisfy myself that they’ve done as good a job as can be done under the circumstances and that they have the required manpower and equip to deal with what could happen," Napolitano said.

[34]:

Secretary of Homeland Security

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Tucson memorial

photo:

^{Napolitano stands next to Mark Kelly, husband of shooting survivor Gabrielle Giffords, at the memorial event.}

On January 12, 2011, along with President Barack Obama, Napolitano was one of many speakers selected to express sympathies to the community of Tucson, the State of Arizona, and the Nation in a televised memorial for the 2011 Tucson shooting.

Six people were killed in the attack;[90] all but Christina-Taylor Green died at the scene of the shooting:[91]

• Christina-Taylor Green, 9, of Tucson.[92] Green was accompanied to the meeting by neighbor Susan Hileman.[38][93] As her date of birth was September 11, 2001, she had appeared in the book Faces of Hope: Babies Born on 9/11 (page 41).[94][95][96] She was the granddaughter of former Major League Baseball player and manager Dallas Green and the second cousin of actress Sophia Bush.[95][97]
• Dorothy "Dot" Morris, 76, a retired secretary from Oro Valley; wife of George, who was wounded.[90][98]
• John Roll, 63, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for Arizona, named to the federal bench by President George H. W. Bush in 1991.[38][99]
• Phyllis Schneck, 79, homemaker from Tucson.[90][100]
• Dorwan Stoddard, 76, retired construction worker, died from a gunshot wound to the head; his wife Mavy was wounded.[90][101]
• Gabriel "Gabe" Zimmerman, 30, community outreach director for Giffords,[2][38] and a member of Giffords' staff since 2006. Zimmerman was the first Congressional staffer killed in the line of duty.[102]

In addition to the six dead, thirteen other people were wounded by gunshot in the attack, while a fourteenth person was injured subduing Loughner. Gabrielle Giffords and two other members of her staff were among the surviving gunshot victims.[6] Staffer Ron Barber, shot in the thigh and face, would later succeed Giffords in her House seat.[103]

Gabrielle Giffords

Gabrielle Giffords was reported to be the target of the shootings.[2] Some news organizations initially reported that she had been killed, but these statements were quickly revised to reflect that she had survived with a gunshot wound to the head.[104][105] Daniel Hernandez Jr., one of Giffords's interns, assisted her after she was wounded and is credited with saving her life.[106][107][108]

Giffords was taken to University Medical Center in critical condition,[1][109] although she was still conscious. Within 38 minutes,[110] Giffords underwent emergency surgery,[111] and part of her skull was removed to prevent further brain damage caused by swelling.[110] She was placed into a medically induced coma to allow her brain to rest.[112] During a memorial ceremony on January 12, President Obama announced that earlier that day Giffords had opened her eyes for the first time since the attack.[113]

As Giffords' status improved, she began simple physical therapy and music therapy.[114] On January 21, 2011, less than two weeks after the attack, her condition was deemed sufficiently stable for her to be released to Houston's Memorial Hermann Medical Center. A few days later she was moved to the center's Institute for Rehabilitation and Research to undergo a program of physical therapy and rehabilitation.[115][116] After examination, her Houston doctors were optimistic, saying she has "great rehabilitation potential".[117] Medical experts expect Giffords's recovery to take from several months to more than one year.[118]

On August 1, 2011, she made her first public appearance on the House floor to vote in favor of raising the debt limit ceiling. She was met with a standing ovation and accolades from her fellow members of Congress.[119] Giffords engaged in intensive rehabilitation treatments in Asheville, North Carolina from October 25 through November 4.[120] In 2011, Mark Kelly, Giffords' husband, published a memoir, Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope, crediting her with joint authorship. He wrote that Giffords vows to return to Congress, although she continues to struggle with language and has lost 50 percent of her vision in both eyes.[121]

On January 22, 2012, Giffords announced that she would resign from her congressional seat in order to concentrate on her recovery, but promised to return to public service in the future.[122] She submitted her resignation on January 25 on the floor of the House in an emotional appearance; colleagues and the House leadership offered their tributes to her courage and strength.[123]

[36. wiki: Gabrielle Giffords]:

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2006

See also: Arizona's 8th congressional district election, 2006; United States House of Representatives elections in Arizona, 2008 § District 8; and United States House of Representatives elections in Arizona, 2010 § District 8

Giffords launched her first candidacy for the U.S. Congress on January 24, 2006. The campaign received national attention early on as a likely pick-up for the Democratic Party. Prominent Democrats, including Tom Daschle, Robert Reich, Janet Napolitano, and Bill Clinton, endorsed Giffords. EMILY's List endorsed Giffords early in the campaign cycle.[21] The Sierra Club and the Arizona Education Association also endorsed her.[22] On September 12, 2006, Giffords won her party's nomination in the primary election.

Her Republican opponent in the general election was Randy Graf, a conservative former state senator known for his enforcement-only position on immigration and illegal aliens. Graf had run against Jim Kolbe in the 2004 GOP primary and had announced his candidacy in 2006 before Kolbe announced his retirement. The Republican establishment was somewhat cool toward Graf, believing he might be too conservative for the district. The national GOP took the unusual step of endorsing one of the more moderate candidates in the primary. Graf won anyway, helped by a split in the Republican moderate vote between two candidates.

Not long after the primary, Congressional Quarterly changed its rating of the race to "Leans Democrat". By late September, the national GOP had pulled most of its funding, effectively conceding the seat to Giffords.~~

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Attempted assassination

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Resignation from Congress

On January 22, 2012, Giffords announced in a video statement that she intended to resign her seat so that she could continue to focus on her recovery.[100] She attended President Obama's 2012 State of the Union Address on January 24, and formally submitted her resignation on January 25. Appearing on the floor of the House, after the last bill she sponsored was brought to a vote and unanimously passed, Giffords was lauded by members of Congress and the majority and minority leaders who spoke in tribute to her strength and accomplishment in an unusual farewell ceremony. Her letter of resignation was read on her behalf by her close friend and fellow Democratic representative, Debbie Wasserman Schultz.[101]

Note: [36: U.S. HoR: Elections: 2006]:

EMILY's List endorsed Giffords