Education

Missouri Lawmakers Upset By School Official’s Response Over Attack Against Michael Knowles

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Neetu Arnold Contributor
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Some Missouri lawmakers were upset over a university chancellor’s response, even calling for his resignation, following an attack against Daily Wire contributor Michael Knowles on April 11.

Knowles was speaking at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) in a lecture titled “Men Are Not Women” when a protester threw a liquid substance at him. It was later determined to be a concoction of lavender oil and other nontoxic substances, The Associated Press reported.

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UMKC student Gerard Dabu was suspended and not allowed on campus during the investigation. The student was charged with disturbing the peace, assault on law enforcement, property damage and resisting arrest by police, according to the AP.

UMKC Chancellor Mauli Agrawal reportedly gave a statement April 12 saying Knowles was “a speaker whose professed opinions do not align with our commitment to diversity and inclusion and our goal of providing a welcoming environment to all people, particularly to our LGBT community,” the AP reported.

Republican state Sen. David Sater was one of the people who wanted Agrawal to resign, according to the AP.

“Intolerance has taken on a different swing of the pendulum at this time,” Republican state Sen. Gary Romine said, the news agency reported.

Republican state Rep. Dirk Deaton would have recommended starting the university’s budget at zero if the incident had occurred when the budget was still in the state’s House, according to The Columbia Missourian.

Knowles also condemned Agrawal’s response on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” April 12. (RELATED: Warren Wants Student Debt Erased Through $640 Billion Plan)

“Chancellor Agarwal is a disgrace to higher education,” Knowles said. “I woke up this morning expecting an apology for being assaulted during a lecture I was invited to give at the University of Missouri. Instead, I was smeared basically as a bigot, they referred to my claim that men are not women as an extreme viewpoint and they tacitly are permitting political violence to fester on campus.”

Agrawal gave another statement April 15, which included the following:

My original statement may have given an indication that UMKC does not support freedom of expression for all. I apologize if I’ve given that impression, for that was not my intention. It is not the university’s role to take sides, but to rise to the higher principle of promoting a respectful exchange of ideas for our students to form their own views and engage in critical thinking.

UMKC did not immediately respond to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

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