Columbus, OH -- Conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro spoke to a sold out crowd at the Ohio student union Tuesday evening.
Those who support the controversial lawyer and author believe a college campus is a proper venue for intelligent debate.
“Some of them are conservative, some of them liberal, some of them libertarians. But all of them come here in an attempt to hear this men out,” says Columbus resident Rickay Brunson.
But not everyone agrees with that mindset.
- Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro spoke to sold out crowd at Ohio Student Union
- Supporters believe a college campus is a proper venue for intelligent debate
- Raises questions of what is free speech and where lines should be drawn
“Every time that somebody that perpetuates a type of discourse that puts one human being's life over another, that's a type of bigotry—they should be met with extreme prejudice from those who don't believe in anything like that. Because those types of thoughts have no place in our society,” says Columbus resident Jake Ellis.
Events like this raise the question, what is free speech, what is hate speech, who gets to decide and where should the line be drawn.
Some students admit they don't see a difference between the rhetoric between alt-right figurehead Richard Spencer and that of Shapiro.
“I think they're both pundits who have no idea what they're getting into when they say the things they do. Because we're ready to mobilize and shut this thing down,” says one Columbus resident.
Whatever the case, both sides agree, there's no place for violence on a college campus.
“We're not here for violence, they're not here for violence. The point is, this dialog at the end of the day is what's going to bring America together as opposed to tearing it apart,” says Ohio State student Christopher Roscoe.