Feminist Lecturer Anita Sarkeesian Cancels University Speech after School Received Shooting Threats
Media critic Anita Sarkeesian cancelled a planned lecture Tuesday at Utah State University after the school received threats of violence if Sarkeesian spoke.
An email sent to a Utah State staff member claimed they would carry out "the deadliest school shooting in American history" if Sarkeesian took the stage.
The electronic letter, whose author claimed to be a student, said "I have at my disposal a semi-automatic rifle, multiple pistols and a collection of pipe bombs," as reported by the Washington Post. The writer said the attack would be similar to the Montreal massacre of faculty, attendees and the university's women center, also saying that security efforts would be useless against this violence.
"One way or another, I'm going to make sure they die," the email said.
Sarkeesian's discussions center around feminism critiques of video games and gamer culture. She founded the website Feminist Frequency, where she blogs about the sexist and misogynistic tendencies in video games. Her voice, along with other critics, have sparked an ongoing feud between Sarkeesian's group of advocates and a mob of gamers, nicknamed GamerGate. The fighting has grown increasingly nasty, with threats of death and rape to women who speak up against video games.
While Sarkeesian did not back out of previous events due to threats, such as last month's Game Developers Choice Awards where someone threatened to bomb the conference if Sarkeesian was honored, she did cancel Tuesday's event at Utah State. She tweeted her reasoning for stopping the event, citting that Utah's concealed carry laws did not allow for "adequate" safety precautions.
"To be clear: I didn't cancel my USU talk because of terrorist threats," she tweeted. "I canceled because I didn't feel the security measures were adequate."
University spokesman Tim Vitale said that the school had developed a security plan before Sarkeesian's arrival, stating "we were going to not allow bags in at all."
After the threat was reported, Vitale said the university "added officers, both uniform and undercover, and we were going to empty the room and sweep the room [for bombs]."
But the lack of metal detectors or temporary gun bans for the event led Sarkeesian to feel unsafe about continuing.
Campus police Capt. Steve Milne "explained [to Sarkeesian that] by state law if someone has a legal concealed carry permit, that they were allowed by law to have that," Vitale said. "In the end, it caused her to decide to cancel the event."
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