Post by mhbruin on Oct 13, 2022 10:02:28 GMT -8
The Penn (State) May Be Mightier Than the Sword, But Is Is Mightier Than the AK-47?
Students at Pennsylvania State University are in an uproar after thousands of dollars in student fees were allocated for a campus event later this month featuring Gavin McInnes, founder of the Proud Boys street gang.
The Oct. 24 event, titled “Stand Back & Stand By,” will feature McInnes and far-right media figure Alex Stein for a comedy hour in which the pair will riff on right-wing grievances such as “political correctness, gender roles, and immigration,” according to a pitch to sponsor the event from campus conservative organization Uncensored America.
Students are protesting the plan over not just McInnes’s history of violent and bigoted rhetoric but also the potential physical threat posed by the Proud Boys. Not only does McInnes maintain a leadership role with the group — which includes members accused of leading the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, among many other violent crimes — but his previous appearances at college campuses and similar conservative events have descended into violence.
“‘Free Speech’ does not mean ‘enabling Gavin McInnes to develop and reinforce right-wing extremist networks while padding his wallet and prestige,’” reads a public petition to university administrators penned by the Student Committee for Defense and Solidarity at Penn State. “We demand that the Penn State administration deny Uncensored America permission to sponsor and platform Gavin McInnes with a speaking engagement.”
On Tuesday, the university decried McInnes’s “vitriolic and hateful language” in a statement. Still, it announced that the event would be allowed to continue “because Penn State fully supports the fundamental right of free speech.”
Free Speech Doesn't Mean You Have a Right to Get Paid to Speak
Students at Pennsylvania State University are in an uproar after thousands of dollars in student fees were allocated for a campus event later this month featuring Gavin McInnes, founder of the Proud Boys street gang.
The Oct. 24 event, titled “Stand Back & Stand By,” will feature McInnes and far-right media figure Alex Stein for a comedy hour in which the pair will riff on right-wing grievances such as “political correctness, gender roles, and immigration,” according to a pitch to sponsor the event from campus conservative organization Uncensored America.
Students are protesting the plan over not just McInnes’s history of violent and bigoted rhetoric but also the potential physical threat posed by the Proud Boys. Not only does McInnes maintain a leadership role with the group — which includes members accused of leading the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, among many other violent crimes — but his previous appearances at college campuses and similar conservative events have descended into violence.
“‘Free Speech’ does not mean ‘enabling Gavin McInnes to develop and reinforce right-wing extremist networks while padding his wallet and prestige,’” reads a public petition to university administrators penned by the Student Committee for Defense and Solidarity at Penn State. “We demand that the Penn State administration deny Uncensored America permission to sponsor and platform Gavin McInnes with a speaking engagement.”
On Tuesday, the university decried McInnes’s “vitriolic and hateful language” in a statement. Still, it announced that the event would be allowed to continue “because Penn State fully supports the fundamental right of free speech.”
Free Speech Doesn't Mean You Have a Right to Get Paid to Speak