NDSU college Republicans cancel speech by Breitbart writer Milo Yiannopoulos

College Republicans at North Dakota State University canceled a planned speech by Milo Yiannopoulos, a controversial speaker from Breitbart News known for his caustic comments about feminism, Islam, and multiculturalism.

He was scheduled to visit the Fargo school on Dec. 16, but the North Dakota College Republican Federation called it off over fears of a violent confrontation between protesters and counter-protesters.

The group does not support Yiannopoulos' views, said member Jamal Omar, but invited him to illustrate the damage he's doing to the mainstream conservative movement.

"We wanted to show people how that would affect other people and how that would really hurt conservatism's cause and hurt us in elections in a country that's becoming more diverse by the day," Omar said.

Yiannopoulous is known as a leading voice of the self-described "alt-right" ideology, which mixes racism, white nationalism and populism.

He visited the University of Minnesota campus for a speech last year and was met with protest.

Breitbart, the conservative publication Yiannopoulous writes for, was previously led by Steve Bannon, the chief strategist to President-elect Donald Trump.