I was scheduled to speak last week at Dartmouth College by invitation of the chapter College Republicans and Turning Point USA. The Thursday “Extremism in America” event was meant to highlight America’s long history with far-left violent extremism, a subject politicians and media oft ignore and deny.
Gabriel Nadales, a former member of California militant leftist groups, was the co-speaker. But we never got to step on stage to a live audience.
Soon after the event was announced, Antifa and its army of online trolls threatened violence to shut it down. In turn, Dartmouth administrators gave the extremists exactly what they wanted: The Hanover, NH, college canceled the in-person event at the last minute, citing vague “safety issues.”
To be sure, the threats against myself, Nadales and prospective attendees were concerning. Local law enforcement had to clear Moore Hall with a bomb squad and dogs before I arrived.
About a week prior to the scheduled event, the group Northeast Antifa published a disturbing flyer featuring a photograph of my bloodied face from when an Antifa mob beat me in 2019 in Portland, Ore. I was hospitalized for a brain hemorrhage from that assault and robbery.
“Anti-fascists from all over New England will be mobilizing January 20th, 2022 at Dartmouth College to disrupt and prevent fascist propagandists like Andy Ngo from normalizing their reactionary beliefs on college campuses in the Northeast,” tweeted the group. It instructed fellow comrades to “wear black” to hide their identities and avoid future prosecution.
Dartmouth College claimed that Ngo’s event had to be canceled for “safety reasons.”
On Instagram, the group threatened me directly. “This is to Andy Ngo himself: when you f–k with us you are not f–king with college students,” it wrote. “When you enter our home you start playing by our rules, not yours. New England is anti-fascist, and we will hold that line until death.”
The Vermont chapter of the far-left militia John Brown Gun Club responded in a tweet, saying it had called up reserves and would be there with a “battalion of Antifa.” In 2019, a member of the group’s Washington state chapter, Willem van Spronsen, carried out an armed attack on the Tacoma Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility using firebombs. When he aimed his rifle at responding police, he was shot dead. He left behind a manifesto proclaiming, “I am antifa.”
In Portland, an Antifa member I’ve reported on named Jonathan Dylan Chase offered to pay anyone who gets arrested for assaulting me.
On Reddit, a thread announcing Antifa’s call to direct action went viral on the Socialist Rifle Association subreddit. There, some of the pseudonymous users posted about killing me and coming armed to the event to stop the “pests.”
Hanover police, nearby Lebanon police and the Grafton County Sheriff’s Office met the threats with a robust and commendable response. Dozens of officers secured the lecture hall where we were scheduled to speak. They secured every entrance and exit at the building, Moore Hall.
The message was clear: Law enforcement will ensure First Amendment activities are protected in Hanover, NH. Dartmouth’s administrators, however, felt otherwise...
