CIA director’s UPenn talk interupted by anti-drone protesters

Protesters at a UPenn talk by the director of the CIA repeatedly interrupted the high-ranking U.S. official before the talk was ended early.

Shouting “Drones kill kids” and holding banners that read “Drone Strikes Breed Terrorism,” protesters interrupted CIA director John Brennan’s talk on Friday evening 15 minutes after it began, the Daily Pennsylvanian reported.

The protesters’ chants included “human torture is a crime” and “CIA is a terrorist group,” as some audience members interrupted them with comments like “Go home!” and “Leave America!”

The moderator of the talk, professor Marjorie Margolies,invited protesters to participate in the debate, but they continued chanting until they were escorted outside the auditorium.

Watch video of the protest below.

Brennan reportedly responded to the issues brought up by the protesters.

“I know there are a lot of reports about hundreds upon thousands of innocents who have been killed as a result of these strikes,” Brennansaid, according to the DP. “I can tell you with great confidence that those are exceptionally exaggerated reports … the number of civilians killed relative to the number of terrorists killed is a very small portion.”

Brennan’s talk continued despite a second interruption by two more protesters, who were also escorted out. During the question and answer portion of the talk, a third group of two protesters began chanting, after which point Margolies ended the event.

Some members of UPenn Students for a Democratic Society, along with other Philly activists, continued the protest outside after the talk ended.

See more video of the protest below.