Dhillon was a committeewoman to the Republican National Convention for California.
Harmeet Dhillon, an Indian American attorney for the UC Berkeley student group that invited conservative pundit Ann Coulter to speak on campus, has threatened to file a lawsuit against the university. Apparently, the university has abruptly cancelled the Coulter event.
Coulter’s visit was scheduled for April 27, 5 p.m. But, the university rejected the student group’s proposal saying that it could not guarantee Coulter’s safety or that of the people attending the rally, Fox News reported.
The University officials, however, offered an afternoon event on May 2 at a different venue; But Coulter rejected that proposal.
Attorney Harmeet Dhillon of the Dhillon Law group on Friday sent a letter to UC Berkeley’s Interim Vice Chancellor Stephen Sutton and chief attorney Christopher Patti that if Coulter is not allowed to give a speech on April 27 she will file a lawsuit in federal court.
“It is a sad day indeed when the birthplace of the Free Speech Movement, is morphing before our eyes into the cemetery of free speech on college campuses,” said Dhillon, who represents the Berkeley College Republicans, the news channel reported.
Dhillon was a committeewoman to the Republican National Convention for California and a former vice chairperson of the California Republican Party. She alleged that the university offered eight possible venues for the event but later abruptly cancelled the event.
“THERE ARE NO CLASSES AT BERKELEY THE WEEK OF MAY 2,” Ann Coulter tweeted the reason of her rejection and pointed that the period is known as Dead Week, when students are studying for final exams.
According to the report, Chirstopher Patti replied to Dhillon’s letter saying that the university police and officials are not against the group’s free speech. Chancellor Nicholas B Dirks also justified the decision pointing to the series of violent clashes on campus and in downtown Berkeley between far-right and far-left protesters.
The police have very specific intelligence regarding threats that could pose a grave danger to the speaker and her audience and protesters if the event goes ahead next Thursday, Dirks told ABC.
Dhillon is a business trial lawyer specializing in complex commercial, intellectual property, internet, privacy, campaign, First Amendment, and employment litigation at Dhillon Law Group Inc., a boutique business law firm headquartered in San Francisco.
Dhillon has been honored several times as “Northern California Super Lawyer” by the American Lawyer magazine. She was named one of the Recorder’s 40 “Women Leaders in the Law” for 2012, and the SABA-NA Cornerstone Award recipient for 2012.