Overview
- Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Michael Knowles described a 2023 University of Pittsburgh protest where an explosion and unrest forced his debate to end early after a campus safety alert.
- He characterized the episode as “leftist terrorism” and cited an Atlantic summary of CSIS findings to argue recent incidents tilt toward the political left.
- Knowles recounted police injuries he attributed to demonstrator Brian DiPippa, noting DiPippa’s five-year prison sentence and his wife’s probation and criticizing the punishment as too light.
- The hearing, chaired by Sen. Eric Schmitt, followed the Sept. 10 killing of Charlie Kirk, which Knowles referenced as ideologically motivated.
- Other witnesses included Chad Wolf, Daniel Hodges, William Braniff, and Kyle Shideler, and Democrats on the panel called for broad condemnation of political violence without assigning partisan blame.