“It’s a system of violence, and we’re here to rebel against that,” José told the crowd, as he explained that they weren’t just protesting McInnes and Stein but also the university administration for allowing the event to take place in the first place.The majority of them had zero prior experience in antifascist activism, having likely only seen social media videos showing black-clad activists clashing with the far-right in cities across the U.S. in recent years.“They have tanks and cars, we have the people.” José said that Penn State was chiefly concerned with keeping its image from being tarnished by a ruckus on campus.McInnes and Stein had been invited to Penn State by Uncensored America, a student group dedicated to trafficking far-right ideas and personalities onto college campuses under the guise of “free speech.” (José described Uncensored America as “incel dweebs.”) The group, which also has chapters in Wisconsin and Tennessee, pitched the event as an opportunity to hear “different political viewpoints in a funny and entertaining way,” and the university agreed to release nearly $7,000 in student programming funds to cover flights and honorariums for McInnes and Stein.McInnes has previously used his platform to stoke conspiracy theories about impending “extinction” of ““white majority countries,” made comments such as “Muslims are stupid,” and repeatedly expressed his desire to “smash commies.” And Stein, who has also appeared in public with the Proud Boys, has built a reputation around misogyny and harassing women."