Conservative columnist and thinker Ben Shapiro spoke live from the campus of UC Berkeley on Thursday evening in what was a highly anticipated speech.

The speech wasn’t necessarily highly anticipated because of Shapiro himself, because he’s previously spoken on the campus without much fanfare. It was anticipated because everyone was worried what Antifa might do to disrupt the event.

Thankfully, everything seems to have gone off without a hitch.

Shapiro did make time to mock Antifa as counter-productive and stupid.

“Thanks to antifa and the supposed anti-fascist brigade for exposing what the radical left truly is,” Shapiro said in his speech, referring to anti-fascist, or “antifa,” activists.

“All of America is watching because you guys are so stupid. It’s horrifying, I am grateful, and you can all go to hell, you pathetic, lying, stupid jackasses,” he said.

Shapiro also explained that it was wrong to blame conservative speakers for the rising costs of these events. He reminded everyone that he spoke at Berkeley in 2016 without there being much of an added cost, the only reason that these events are now so expensive is because of the leftist violence and destruction.

Free speech isn't free. It costs over $600,000 thanks to Antifa.

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) September 14, 2017

Shapiro compared Thursday’s speech to his previous appearance on the campus in April 2016, which required far less stringent security measures.

“It was a packed house. I had two security guards, and that was it,” Shapiro said.

“No violence, no nothing. And now we are spending well into six figures so that I can say many of the same things. It’s utterly absurd.”

Here’s the terrific lecture he delivered to the students of UC Berkeley:

Afterwards, Shapiro wrote up his thoughts on how the event went and on what he learned from Berkeley.

So, I visited Berkeley last night.

And it was terrific.

The students were engaged; the police were finally allowed to do their jobs. Antifa stayed away. Sure, there were protesters – lots of them. That’s great! It’s a free country, and they’re free to say whatever stupid nonsense they want to. But overall, this was a big moment for Berkeley, which had been blockaded by violent leftists for nearly a year: a civil discussion involving a dissenting, conservative voice, allowed by the administration and defended by law enforcement…

Article posted with permission from Constitution.com. Article by Onan Coca.