Anita Sarkeesian Cancels Utah State Appearance After ‘Massacre’ Threats
Anita Sarkeesian, prominent feminist video game critic and creator of the Tropes vs. Women video series, has cancelled an upcoming appearance at Utah State University after someone claiming to be a student threatened a “massacre” at the event.
According to The Verge, Sarkeesian was scheduled to talk at Utah State’s Center for Women and Gender on Wednesday morning. Officials, however, received an email in which the author threatened a “Montreal Massacre-style attack” against Sarkeesian and anyone who attended her talk.
Sarkeesian announced on Twitter that she had been forced to cancel the appearance due to security fears. Originally intending to go ahead with the speech, according to Forbes, Sarkeesian changed her mind when she learned that Utah’s open carry laws meant that guns could be carried at the event.
“Anita Sarkeesian has canceled her scheduled speech for tomorrow following a discussion with Utah State University police regarding an email threat that was sent to Utah State University,” the school’s announcement said. “During the discussion, Sarkeesian asked if weapons will be permitted at the speaking venue. Sarkeesian was informed that, in accordance with the State of Utah law regarding the carrying of firearms, if a person has a valid concealed firearm permit and is carrying a weapon, they are permitted to have it at the venue.”
Forced to cancel my talk at USU after receiving death threats because police wouldn’t take steps to prevent concealed firearms at the event.
— Feminist Frequency (@femfreq) October 15, 2014
The email reportedly promised that the shooting at Sarkeesian’s speech would be one of the deadliest in American history, detailing precisely how the shooter would carry it out.
“If you do not cancel her talk, a Montreal Massacre style attack will be carried out against the attendees, as well as students and staff at the nearby Women’s Center. I have at my disposal a semi-automatic rifle, multiple pistols, and a collection of pipe bombs.”
The Montreal Massacre, which took place in December of 1989, was directed at students of Montreal’s École Polytechnique, by a killer who claimed that his life had been ruined by feminists. Fourteen women were killed on a day that now symbolizes action on Violence Against Women in Canada.
Anita Sarkeesian cancels speech in wake of… http://t.co/XXFk1yKBVg #Technews #Gadgets | https://t.co/qPhzqDHShM pic.twitter.com/Ppapkax5UW — Kishore Ganesh (@ge282) October 15, 2014
Sarkeesian is no stranger to threats, as The Inquisitr has previously noted. In September, organizers of the Game Developers Choice Awards confirmed that an anonymous person had threatened to bomb the event if Sarkeesian was given an award. A nearly constant harassment campaign has centered around Sarkeesian since 2012. In August, Sarkeesian was forced to leave her home because of very specific threats that were leveled against her.
Utah State University announced the cancellation at Anita Sarkeesian’s request at 5:30.
[Image: Anita Sarkeesian via Flickr]
