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IS HE ALT-RIGHT?

Who is Milo Yiannopoulos and what did he say about the New Zealand terror attack?

BRITISH far-right personality Milo Yiannopoulos has been banned from entering Australia following comments he made about the New Zealand mosque shootings.

But who is he and what did he actually say? Here's everything you need to know.

 Milo Yiannopoulos is a journalist, broadcaster and internet blogger who speaks about technology, media, business, society, religion and celebrity culture
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Milo Yiannopoulos is a journalist, broadcaster and internet blogger who speaks about technology, media, business, society, religion and celebrity cultureCredit: Rex Features

Who is Milo Yiannopoulos?

Milo is a Greek-born British journalist who came to prominence working at Breibart News — a conservative news and opinion US website.

In 2011, the 33-year-old founded The Kernel, an online tabloid magazine about technology.

He is a vocal critic of feminism, Islam, social justice, political correctness and is an avid Donald Trump fan.

The brash contrarian's first taste of controversy came during his coverage of the Gamergate scandal which involved accusations of sexism in the video game industry.

Yiannopoulous claimed the scandal was being fuelled by an “army of sociopathic feminist programmers”.

He also published parts of a private mailing list which he said proved gaming journalists were colluding to support the politically correct feminists.

Milo has been called a spokesperson for the alt-right and was permanently banned from Twitter this year for offensive comments.

He is a practising Catholic and has spoken on his sexuality and views on gay marriage.

His father is Greek and he was educated at Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys in Kent.

He tried his hand at two university degrees at the University of Manchester and Cambridge University, but dropped out of both courses.

What did he say about the New Zealand terror attack?

On Friday March 15, at least one gunman murdered 49 Muslim worshippers at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, injuring a further 48.

Part of the attack was livestreamed on Facebook and a manifesto written by Brenton Tarrant, believed to be the attacker, was published online.

In the manifesto, Tarrant praised Candace Owens — an American conservative commentator.

This in turn led to many people criticising Owens' rhetoric as having played a part in radicalising Tarrant.

But Yiannopoulos took to Facebook to denounce violence and speak up in Owens defence on the same day as the attack.

He wrote: "Candace has never been especially controversial and has never had many far-Right fans. She gets less popular the further Right you go.

"Likewise, the violence directly inspired by grassroots Right-wing media figures comes from Antifa, not our supporters.

"Attacks like this happen because the establishment panders to and mollycoddles extremist Leftism and barbaric, alien religious cultures.

"Not when someone dares to point it out."

Australia's immigration minister, David Coleman, cancelled Yiannopoulos' visa to Australia hours after the remarks.

Coleman described Yiannopoulos' comments as "appalling and foment hatred and division."

Where has Milo Yiannopoulos worked?

After briefly writing for the Telegraph, Yiannopoulos started the Kernel which was eventually acquired by Daily Dot Media.

The openly gay conservative stepped down as the Kernel's Editor-in Chief but remains an adviser to the company.

In October 2015, the Breitbart News Network placed him in charge of its tech section.

He said is would be "free speech central - and we'll talk about stuff people really care about: Freedom, free speech, love, sex, death, money and porn."

 British journalist Milo Yiannopoulos is no stranger to controversy
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British journalist Milo Yiannopoulos is no stranger to controversyCredit: AP:Associated Press

Why was Milo's book deal dropped?

Milo Yiannopoulos' book deal was cancelled after videos are said to have emerged in which he allegedly condones paedophilia.

The footage showed him discussing the merits of gay relationships between adults and boys as young as 13.

On Facebook, Mr Yiannopoulos has denied ever endorsing paedophilia.

But it seems this was not enough for publisher Simon & Schuster which has cancelled the publication of Yiannopoulos's book Dangerous.

A spokesman for the company, Adam Rothberg,  said: "After careful consideration, [Simon & Schuster] and its [Threshold Editions] have cancelled publication of Dangerous by Milo Yiannopoulos.”

Milo confirmed this in a Facebook comment.

 Milo Yiannopoulos' Facebook comment following the decision to drop his book
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Milo Yiannopoulos' Facebook comment following the decision to drop his bookCredit: FACEBOOK

Why was Milo banned from Twitter?

In July 2016, the right-wing firebrand was banned from Twitter after a vicious dispute with Ghostbusters actress Leslie Jones.

Milo published a scathing review of the female-led blockbuster reboot and then used Twitter to accuse her of “playing the victim”.

He then controversially told his sizeable Twitter following that he had been “rejected by a black dude” when she blocked him.

Jones then shut down her Twitter account and wrote: “I leave Twitter tonight with tears and a very sad heart.

“All this cause I did a movie. You can hate the movie but the s***I got today…wrong.”

It is understood that some of Milo’s fans were involved in the campaign against Leslie Jones.

Some people started false accounts in her name and began writing fake emails which made her out to be homophobic.

Milo denied responsibility and said he could not be blamed for the actions of other people.

“Of course, I don’t have any regrets,” after Twitter announced his permanent ban.

“But feminists on the other hand should have regrets that they have taught strong women that they are victims and attacked people for having different opinions to them on Twitter.”

Have Milo's speeches caused controversy before?

Milo has given a number of speeches which have been targeted by protesters.

In February 2016,  he spoke at Rutgers University - where a number of female audience members stood up and smeared red paint on their faces chanting "black lives matter", his supportive crown chanted back "Trump" until the protesters left.

In May of that year, at the University of California in Santa Barbara protesters blocked the entrances to the theatre Yiannopoulos was speaking in.

During that event, he was carried into the lecture theatre on a golden throne by students wearing Donald Trump caps and singing “America F— Yeah!”

And in November, he was due to speak in Canterbury but the school cancelled the event after concerns from Whitehall about extremism — prompting the writer to brand Theresa May “a total fascist.”

Yiannopolous was scheduled to address pupils at the Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys — despite being expelled more than a decade ago.

The school’s head teacher claimed he had been lent on by the “Department For Education’s counter extremism unit” into cancelling the talk.

 Tensions ran high over the right-winger's scheduled speech
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Tensions ran high over the right-winger's scheduled speechCredit: EPA

The Breitbart News editor was forced to cancel his appearance at the University of California at Berkeley in February 2017.

The event was called off after protesters tossed metal barricades and rocks through the building’s windows and torched a generator on fire near the entrance.

Yiannopoulos responded by criticised "the Left", saying in a statement it was "absolutely terrified of free speech and will do literally anything to shut it down."

He also said on Fox News that he was evacuated by police after protesters began throwing rocks and other objects at the building.

"Obviously it's a liberal campus so they hate any libertarians or conservatives who dare to express an opinion on their campuses," he said.

"They particularly don't like me."

His aggressive and offensive style has won him a kind of cult status among angry young men and anti-feminists, but he has made countless enemies due to his comments on Twitter.

The former Telegraph journalist has embarked on a round of lectures at American universities, named “The Dangerous Faggot Tour”.


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