Milo Yiannopoulos publicly posted the photos and identifying information of ASUC Senator Juniperangelica Cordova-Goff and campus doctoral student Adam Jadhav on Wednesday, spurring harassment from his supporters.
Yiannopoulos posted a screenshot of one of Cordova-Goff’s Facebook posts on his Instagram account after she condemned chalk graffiti that targeted undocumented and LGBTQ+ individuals. Yiannopoulos also published a photo of Jadhav after Jadhav notified his political ecology students that Tuesday’s class would be cancelled for “Free Speech Week.”
Cordova-Goff initially deactivated her official Senate Facebook page, but it has since been reactivated, and she published a statement titled “On Being Targeted and Doxxed” in response to the incident Thursday.
“My existence, as a brown, transgender woman, was put on display and ridiculed by thousands who commented with queer and transgender slurs, vulgar remarks and death threats,” Cordova-Goff said in the statement.
The ASUC Senate called for a special meeting Saturday to consider a resolution called “Enumerating Prohibitions Against Doxxing and Outing.” The resolution, if passed, would make doxxing — the publishing of information about an individual on the Internet without their consent — and outing violations of the ASUC Constitution.
“Organizations (including ASUC officials) are be responsible for violations of this bylaw by speakers and similar invited guests at their meetings and events,” the resolution states.
ASUC Senator Hani Hussein also reported Islamophobic and xenophobic comments being posted on her official Facebook page Wednesday. To Hussein, the connection between the comments and Free Speech Week is clear.
“Obviously there’s been a lot of conversation around (Free Speech Week) in the Senate and on our Facebook pages. We’ve been very critical of the events that are going to take place,” Hussein said. “We use our Facebook profiles to promote any and all work that we do … and as a result, we are being targeted.”
Hussein deactivated her Facebook page. She called on campus administration to take responsibility for the incidents. Cordova-Goff also said in her statement that the harassment “could have been, and should have been, prevented by the university itself.”
Chancellor Carol Christ released a campuswide email condemning “hateful incidents” occurring around campus. UCPD is investigating whether the incidents constitute hate crimes, the email said.
“The campus completely condemns … assaulting words or deeds that target any member of our community. This is simply intolerable,” campus spokesperson Dan Mogulof said. “We urge anyone who either has been targeted or has witnessed what they believe to be unlawful activity to immediately contact the police department.”