Brawl Erupts During 'It's Okay to be White' Speech At UConn

Editor's note: One person's name was removed from this report because his or her charges were dismissed.

STORRS, CT — A speaker sponsored by University of Connecticut Republicans was arrested after scuffling with audience members a during a Tuesday night speech, authorities said.

The speaker, Lucian Wintrich, was invited by campus GOP members, a UConn spokesman said. Wintrich is a political artist and commentator and the White House correspondent for The Gateway Pundit.

The speech was entitled, "It's Okay to be White."

A video posted on Twitter by photojournalist Kevin Galliford shows Wintrich speaking and a female student approaching the podium and removing something.

He then follows her into the crowd, seeming to aggressively retrieve the paper and a scuffle ensued involving multiple people.

The hall was then cleared by police, authorities said.

A UConn official watching the scenario from a security monitor confirmed the exact sequence.

The rhetoric was flying on Twitter.

Connecticut Dems posted a message that read, "This is despicable, and Connecticut Democrats condemn this violence ... and the white supremacy Mr. Wintrich was peddling ... in the strongest possible terms.

And ...

"Today, a white supremacist invited by Connecticut Republicans physically attacked a student. This is our backyard."

The UConn student government was quick to respond.

It called for civility and applauded student organizations' ability to pick and choose speakers, but at the same time acknowledged the topic was volatile.

"We must stand for inclusion, respect and acceptance," the statement read.

See the statement here:

See the video of the brawl here:

UConn spokeswoman Stephanie Reitz said Wintrich was taken into custody by UConn police shortly before 9 p.m. and confirmed he was involved in an altercation with a "guest" at the speech.

No injuries were reported.

Police also are investigating an incident in which someone broke a window in the lecture hall as the crowd was leaving and threw a smoke bomb inside, Reitz said. That incident "led to speculation as to whether police had discharged tear gas, but that was not accurate," Reitz said.

"No tear gas was used or needed," she added.

Wintrich, 29, was charged with breach of peace and released on a $1,000 non-surety bond, Reitz said.

[Name Withheld], 19, of Glastonbury, a student living on campus, was charged with breach of peace and criminal mischief, Reitz said. He was released on a $1,000 non-surety bond. He is charged with allegedly breaking a window as people were leaving the event, Reitz said. [Name Withheld's] charges are specific to allegedly breaking the window and he has not been charged in relation to the smoke bomb that was thrown inside, she added.

That incident remains under investigation, she said.

UConn officials released the following statement:

"Free speech, like academic freedom, is one of the university’s bedrock principles.That being said, a particular speaker’s or group’s presence on campus doesn’t indicate UConn’s endorsement of the presenter or their message. Any student group is free to reserve on-campus space for a speaker or other program as long as the event adheres to UConn’s guidelines, which apply to all student groups and on-campus programming."

Said UConn President Susan Herbst, “This was a very disappointing evening. Thoughtful, civil discourse should be a hallmark of democratic societies and American universities, and this evening fell well short of that.

"We live in a tense and angry time of deep political division. Our hope as educators is that creative leadership and intellectual energy can be an antidote to that sickness, especially on university campuses. Between the offensive remarks by the speaker who also appeared to aggressively grab an audience member and the reckless vandalism that followed, that was certainly not the case on our campus tonight. We are better than this.

“Something similar will arise here again at some point in the near future. We will need to learn from this experience and rise to that occasion.

“I want to thank the UConn public safety personnel and other UConn staff who were present tonight who handled a difficult situation with characteristic poise and professionalism as they reacted quickly to a highly charged and very challenging situation.”

Wintrich seemed to be blaming students in a Tweet about the incident.

"It's really unfortunate that some of the kids at UConn felt the need to be violent and disruptive during a speech that focused on how the leftist media is turning Americans against each other," he wrote. "Tonight proved my point."

He then added later on Wednesday, "I will peruse legal justice against the woman who stole my property and the University that failed to secure my freedom of speech and safety."

Photo Credit: UConn Police