President Donald Trump at a ceremony at the White House on Wednesday for the swearing-in ceremony of Rex Tillerson as secretary of state. AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to pull federal funding from the University of California at Berkeley after the campus experienced violent protests over a planned speech from conservative provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos. 
 
 "If U.C. Berkeley does not allow free speech and practices violence on innocent people with a different point of view - NO FEDERAL FUNDS?" Trump wrote on Twitter on Thursday morning. 
 
 Berkeley is the flagship campus of the public University of California system. UC Berkeley received $370 million in federal research funding in 2015-2016, according to the university's website. 
 
 Yiannopoulos, an editor at the far-right website Breitbart News whom many identify with the alt-right, a white-nationalist movement, was set to appear as part of a book tour. 
 
 The event was canceled after demonstrators threw smoke bombs and flares, The Associated Press and local media reported. 
 
 UC Berkeley, notably, is considered the home of the Free Speech Movement of the 1960s. 
 
 Protesters watching a bonfire Wednesday night on Sproul Plaza during a rally against the scheduled speaking appearance by Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos on the University of California at Berkeley campus. AP Photo/Ben Margot 
 
 UC Berkeley issued this statement on the protests: "Amid violence, destruction of property and out of concern for public safety, the University of California Police Department determined that it was necessary to remove Milo Yiannopoulos from the campus and to cancel tonight's scheduled 8 p.m. performance. "The decision was made at about 6 p.m., two hours before the event, and officers read several dispersal announcements to the crowd of more than 1,500 protesters that had gathered outside of the Martin Luther King, Jr. ASUC venue. "We condemn in the strongest possible terms the violence and unlawful behavior that was on display and deeply regret that those tactics will now overshadow the efforts to engage in legitimate and lawful protest against the performer's presence and perspectives." 
 
 Bryan Logan contributed reporting to this story. 
 
 Editor's note: Milo Yiannopoulos has previously authored columns published by Business Insider. ||||| A bonfire set by demonstrators protesting a scheduled speaking appearance by Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos burns on Sproul Plaza on the University of California at Berkeley campus on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2017, in Berkeley, Calif. The event was canceled out of safety concerns after protesters hurled smoke bombs, broke windows and started a bonfire. | AP Trump threatens to pull U.C. Berkeley funding after protests against Milo Yiannopoulos turn violent 
 
 President Donald Trump threatened to withdraw federal funding from the University of California at Berkeley over its decision to cancel an event at which Breitbart News writer Milo Yiannopoulos, known for his provocative and often misogynistic stances, was scheduled to speak. 
 
 “If U.C. Berkeley does not allow free speech and practices violence on innocent people with a different point of view - NO FEDERAL FUNDS?” Trump wrote on Twitter on Thursday morning. 
 
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 The university opted to cancel Yiannopoulos’ speech roughly two hours before it was set to begin after a protest against his presence on the campus turned violent, CNN reported. The school blamed “150 masked agitators” with igniting the violence, which included Molotov cocktails and fireworks launched at police. Protesters also threw rocks at officers and smashed windows at the U.C. student center, where Yiannopoulos was scheduled to speak. 
 
 Pulling funding is a threat that Trump has brandished regularly, both as a candidate and since being inaugurated as president. Perhaps most prominently, he has pledged to withdraw federal funding from so-called sanctuary cities, which do not turn over undocumented immigrants to the federal government for deportation. 
 
 Yiannopoulos’ speeches are often met by protests. His stories are among the most provocative on Breitbart, with headlines including “Birth control makes women unattractive and crazy,” “Science proves it: Fat-shaming works” and “Gay rights have made us dumber, it's time to get back in the closet.” 
 
 Brietbart is an alt-right news website that has expressed white nationalist sympathies. 
 
 Last month, a man was shot at a campus demonstration opposing a Yiannopoulos speaking engagement at the University of Washington. 
 
 At least some portion of Trump’s success as a candidate is owed to the alt-right movement to which he regularly played on the campaign trail. Breitbart has been a frequent publisher of flattering stories regarding the president, and the website’s former head, Steve Bannon, is the Trump administration’s chief strategist and senior counselor. ||||| President Trump Donald John TrumpTrump announces North Dakota rally for June 27 Kim Kardashian on running for office: ‘Never say never’ State Dept. warns Americans of terrorist threat at World Cup MORE early Thursday threatened to cut federal funding to the University of California, Berkeley after violent protests broke out on its campus Wednesday in response to a planned appearance by a far-right commentator. 
 
 "If U.C. Berkeley does not allow free speech and practices violence on innocent people with a different point of view — NO FEDERAL FUNDS?" the president tweeted Thursday morning. 
 
 If U.C. Berkeley does not allow free speech and practices violence on innocent people with a different point of view - NO FEDERAL FUNDS? — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 2, 2017 
 
 Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) on Thursday released a statement calling the president's apparent threat an "abuse of power." 
 
 “President Donald Trump cannot bully our university into silence. Simply put, President Trump’s empty threat to cut funding from UC Berkeley is an abuse of power," she said in the statement. 
 
 
 
 "As a senior member of the education funding subcommittee, I will continue to stand up to President Trump’s overreach and defend the rights of our students and faculty.” 
 
 A scheduled appearance by right-wing commentator Milo Yiannopoulos was canceled Wednesday night, about two hours before the Breitbart editor was scheduled to speak. 
 
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 The university said in a statement the violence was "instigated by a group of about 150 masked agitators who came onto campus and interrupted an otherwise non-violent protest," according to NPR. 
 
 "This was a group of agitators who were masked up, throwing rocks, commercial grade fireworks and Molotov cocktails at officers," U.C. Berkeley Police Chief Margo Bennet told The Associated Press. 
 
 More than 1,500 people had showed up to protest Yiannopoulos's appearance on campus. 
 
 At least six people were injured, according to CNN. 
 
 Yiannopoulos called what happened "an expression of political violence," according to CNN. 
 
 "I'm just stunned that hundreds of people ... were so threatened by the idea that a conservative speaker might be persuasive, interesting, funny and might take some people with him, they have to shut it down at all costs," he said in a Facebook Live video. 
 
 Updated 11:37 p.m
– The UC Berkeley campus erupted in anger Wednesday night during a protest that turned violent against a scheduled speech by far-right Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos (the speech ended up being canceled). President Trump weighed in on the incident on Twitter, per the Hill, and it was clear from his message which side he planted his feet on. "If U.C. Berkeley does not allow free speech and practices violence on innocent people with a different point of view - NO FEDERAL FUNDS?" he tweeted early Thursday. Per Business Insider, the school received $370 million in research funding from the government in fiscal year 2015-16, according to the school's own stats. Politico notes that Trump has also threatened to pull federal funds from so-called sanctuary cities for immigrants.