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UW president doesn't regret having Milo Yiannopoulos on campus

caption: University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce
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University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce
COURTESY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON

The investigation continues into January's shooting at the University of Washington during a speech by controversial writer Milo Yiannopoulos. One man was injured but as yet, no one has been charged.

Still, University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce is defending her decision to allow the speech to happen. She spoke about it during a recent taping for the Seattle Channel's Civic Cocktail.

"I think that there are some people who feel that somehow they can find a way to differentiate hate speech from free speech. And this isn't the moment to be trying to parse free speech. It's probably as important now as it's ever been", she said.

But Cauce added that school administrators are aware of an uptick in hate speech in recent months.

"We've had a number of postering that's happened around campus that are kind of neo Nazi posters, we have been trying to track, we don't think it comes from our students but nonetheless our students are exposed to it. It makes them very anxious, it makes them very scared", she said.

Cauce said investigators are still gathering evidence into the shooting. She also said she's not sure what the university could have done differently.

Cauce's personal life has been affected by intolerance and bigotry. Her brother was killed by Ku Klux Klan and American Nazi Party demonstrators at a rally in 1979 in North Carolina.

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