A capacity crowd will greet Ben Shapiro on Wednesday evening when the conservative writer and commentator speaks at the University of Utah’s Social and Behavioral Sciences building.
Officials anticipate a large gathering outside the building as well, with student and community groups critical of the former Breitbart News editor-at-large holding demonstrations and anti-Shapiro protests.
Tickets to the Shapiro event are no longer available, but a livestream is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m., and will be hosted here.
Ryan Ogden, 26, and Adam Everton, 21, both of Midvale, said they stood in line for three hours to get tickets. With numbers 388 and 391, they were some of the last people to nab passes out of the 400 available.
Ogden brought one of Shapiro’s books that he hopes to get signed. He said he’s a “pretty big fan.”
“Most of his views are pretty libertarian. When I actually started paying attention to politics, that’s what resonated most with me,” Ogden said. “I like the government smaller, less problems that way.”
Everton, who describes himself as a centrist, said he thinks “it’s good to expose yourself to these kinds of things — left and right” and that Shapiro is not as bad as the media makes him out to be.
“His views are pretty down to earth. Most people have the same views, he’s just being a little more vocal about it,” Everton said.
Markell Woolstenhulme, 20, and Parker Johnson, 22, both Utah Valley University and members of the Young Americans for Liberty chapter there, said they support free speech — whether you agree with Shapiro’s ideas or not.
“We like to hear a lot of different ideas,” Johnson said. “We’re not super into Ben Shapiro, we just like to hear a lot of different ideas and different opinions and gather our own opinions that way.”
A group of U. representatives, including campus police, recently visited the University of California, Berkeley to observe that school’s response to a similar event featuring Shapiro.
Increased campus security is planned for Wednesday evening, and notices this week indicated the area around the Social and Behavioral Sciences building would be blocked off, with nearby classes relocated. Several items have been prohibited at or outside the event, including masks and facial coverings, signs, projectiles and weapons of any kind except what is expressly permitted by state law.
Although Ogden said he wanted to see whether there were any riots Wednesday night, he wasn’t too worried about the U.’s ability to handle any escalations.
“We’re not going to let them scare us,” Everton said of potential antifa protesters. “They’re not scary at all anyway.”
Woolstenhulme said he expected a little bit of protesting but nothing violent like Berkeley.
“It was crazy. I think, really, though it was being hosted by Berkeley, it wasn’t a mandatory event,” he said. “Being able to let people express their own right of free speech, whether it’s ideas you agree with or not, they should still have the right to speak. The fact that there was so many people out there protesting against him being there and in such a crazy fashion was really unreasonable.”
Shapiro is the author of several books, including “Brainwashed: How Universities Indoctrinate America‘s Youth.” His campus speeches are sponsored by Young America’s Foundation, the parent organization over campus Young Americans for Freedom chapters.
Shapiro’s event is titled “Trigger Warning,” a nod to campus political correctness efforts that seek to alert individuals to potentially distressing content in written materials, videos and lectures.
The Tribune will update this story throughout Wednesday evening.