The 29-year-old was giving a speech titled, "It Is OK To Be White," when a student decided to approach the podium he was standing at and remove Wintrich's notes. Upset, he responded by chasing after the woman and grabbing her backpack.
— Kevin Galliford (@KallMeKG) November 29, 2017
— Lachlan Markay (@lachlan) November 29, 2017
And that's when all hell broke loose.
Campus police, who were already on the scene, jumped in to break up the altercation and escort the controversial speaker out of the school's Andre Schenker Lecture Hall and into a separate room.
— Mario Boone (@MarioBooneTV) November 29, 2017
Despite Wintrich's removal from the lecture hall, the situation quickly escalated, and one of the windows in the hall was smashed to bits. A smoke bomb was even detonated as the crowds inside the hall were beginning to disperse, Huffington Post reported.
— Rebecca Lurye (@RebeccaLurye) November 29, 2017
Though students ultimately left the lecture hall, they stayed outside the building in the hopes of catching Wintrich as police escorted him to the station. An hour later, they got their wish as the bowtie-wearing speaker was brought out through a back entrance.
— Kevin Galliford (@KallMeKG) November 29, 2017
The White House correspondent, released on $1,000 bond, was eventually charged with breach of the peace, the Post reported.
"This was a very disappointing evening," Susan Herbst, UConn's president, said in a statement. "Thoughtful, civil discourse should be a hallmark of democratic societies and American universities, and this evening fell well short of that."
Hosted by the UConn Republicans, the event was meant to be an "opportunity to meet someone on the front lines of the media versus Trump battle," the group said, adding that Wintrich intended to discuss "identity politics, liberal victimhood, anti-conservative bias and other hot-button issues," according to the Hartford Courant.
However, the discussion points fell on deaf ears.
"He was coming from a legitimate hateful, stupid and illogical side," Leann McLaren, one of the attendants, told the outlet. "It's just a bad look to invite someone with those hateful ideas to a UConn campus that's supposed to promote diversity and inclusion for everybody."
Wintrich was expected to make the same speech at University of Massachusetts Boston a few weeks earlier, but it was postponed until the spring. According to Hartford Courant, the push back came after the event's sponsor, Turning Point USA, said it "was not comfortable" and needed more time to plan the event.
In a tweet Wednesday, Wintrich announced that he would "peruse legal justice against the woman who stole my property and the University that failed to secure my freedom of speech and safety."