This is one of those stories you get to know if you are deep into a specific culture and I found out through some Facebook friends that are very into gaming. Apparently Anita Sarkeesian has been a visceral critic of the Video game culture and how they portray females in it. I did not delve into what makes her mad, but I would be very much surprised if she is not bitching about making the characters look sexy and assorted blah-blahs.
Ms. Sarkeesian was scheduled to speak at Utah State University when she got a threatening email (how coincidental) promising death destruction and free puppies or some crap like that. Here is a copy made available:
The writer makes reference to Marc Lépine and I admit I had to look him up. in Wikipedia. He turns out to be a Canadian Mass Shooter who killed 14 women in 1989 who complained women were taking over non-traditional roles in society and what-not . This is a very dark reference to make in the US; first Mass shooters rarely if ever give specific warnings as they know there are no points to be gained that way and secondly, if you are gonna use a reference for a college/school shooting, you go to the classics: Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold or Seung-Hui Cho which are embedded in the American mind. After reading that email, I figured that it was written by a Canadian troll to screw with Sarkeesian or maybe somebody with a flair for the dramatic in need to boost Sarkeesian’s relevance outside the gaming community.
But erring on the side of caution, USU authorities decided to do a threat assessment:
USU police were contacted immediately, as were state and federal agencies, including the Utah Statewide Information and Analysis Center, the FBI Cyber Terrorism Task Force, and the FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit.
Prior to the threat, USU police were already making preparations for security as Ms. Sarkeesian had received threats in the past. After receiving the email, USU police added heightened security measures, including securing the Taggart Student Center auditorium far in advance, ensuring her safety to and from the event, and bringing in additional uniformed and plain-clothed police officers.
Throughout the day, Tuesday, Oct. 14, USU police and administrators worked with state and federal law enforcement agencies to assess the threat to our USU community and Ms. Sarkeesian. Together, we determined that there was no credible threat to students, staff or the speaker, and that this letter was intended to frighten the university into cancelling the event.
And here is where Anita Sarkeesian needed to step up. She just couldn’t play the victim when even the FBI told her the email was a load of BS. So what is a Social Justice Worker to do? Blame the usual suspects: Gun Owners. Utah allows for Campus Carry and as far as I know, no blood has flown in the student centers nor massacres have occurred in class. But it was the perfect excuse for Anita Sarkeesian to save face so she demanded that concealed carry be forbidden at her event. The school told her they could not do that as they would be breaking the law and Anita Sarkeesian finally had the excuse to call more attention on herself by loudly cancelling the event.
Now how the heck does Mom jump from a probably fake email and the law of the State of Utah to Gun People bullying Anita Sarkeesian is one those mental acrobatics I cannot fathom. Then again it is a Pavlovian response in their part since they saw the word “guns” and had to attack. Pity the guns only exist in some video game console and are hard to make work in real life.
Oh wow, Anita Serkeesian the professional victim?
In case you haven’t heard of #GamerGate, here’s a hint: she probably sent that letter herself. Just like the death threats that her contemporaries have been bribing people to write to them.
If there is anything to be learned from internet trolls it is that it is very easy to make threats from the safety of anonymity. Thousands, maybe tens of thousands of threats have been made over Gamergate. I would venture to say that all of them, including this one, are internet troll armchair commando cowards.
That said, I agree that the venue should not go on lockdown over this threat. Years ago, streaking was a bug thing at MLB games. Finally, the broadcasters stopped showing the streakers. Very quickly, that problem went away, there was no 15 min of fame to be gained by the streaker.
If ever internet troll threat led to a lockdown or increased security, the public discourse will be held hostage by one idiot with a anonymous email address. Conservatives have been dealing with this problem for years. Paul Ryan, Ted Cruz, Sarah Palin, S.E. Cupp, etc, can’t speak on a campus without death threats. The conservatives take the MLB approach and just come anyway. This woman responded exactly the way this troll wanted. The school didn’t.
Fun fact, Anita often receives these kind of threats publicly right before a speech. There is a fair amount of speculation that she sends them herself.
As individualism has always been the natural enemy of the postmodernist social justice buffoon, coming out against gun owners is par for course. SJ types making statements that all gun owners should be rounded up and shot is pretty common, I’ve heard a fair share of them. Postmodernists are just rebranded fascists.
Here is a thing of beauty about this episode. You may want to print and frame it.
http://monsterhunternation.com/2014/10/21/fisking-the-deseret-news-anti-ccw-article/