'Massacre' threat forces Anita Sarkeesian to cancel university appearance

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**Ouze**

So.. I'm posting this thread in video games, and then immediately reporting my own thread. I'm not 100% sure if this belongs in video games, or the OT, or if this is just too hot on the heels of the last thread that was about women & video games that was instalocked. This is such an escalation that I think it's sort of newsworthy but I understand if it's the latter.

source

'Massacre' threat forces Anita Sarkeesian to cancel university appearance
By Adi Robertson on October 14, 2014 07:09 pm

Anita Sarkeesian, creator of the popular Tropes vs. Women video series, is at the center of yet another death threat. The Standard Examiner reports that the director of Utah State University's Center for Women and Gender, along with several other people, received an email promising a mass shooting if they didn't cancel a speaking engagement for Sarkeesian, who was scheduled to talk at the center on Wednesday morning. Sarkeesian later announced on Twitter that she had been forced to cancel the appearance because of insufficient police protection against concealed weapons. A member of the Center for Women and Gender confirmed to The Verge that the threat was real, although she and campus police declined to provide more details.

THE LETTER REFERENCES THE DEADLY 'MONTREAL MASSACRE' OF 1989

The Standard-Examiner has printed what it says are excerpts from the letter, in which the unknown author (who claims to be a Utah State student) claims to have "a semi-automatic rifle, multiple pistols, and a collection of pipe bombs." More specifically, they threatened to carry out a "Montreal Massacre-style attack" against Sarkeesian and anyone who attended the talk. "Feminists have ruined my life and I will have my revenge," reads the email. The Montreal Massacre, carried out in December of 1989, was a mass shooting directed at engineering students in Montreal's École Polytechnique. The killer, who also claimed that his life had been ruined by feminists, singled out women and murdered 14 before killing himself. Today, its anniversary is commemorated in Canada as the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.

The threat is far from the first directed at Sarkeesian and anyone around her. Organizers of the Game Developers Choice Awards confirmed in September that they had received an email in which an anonymous critic threatened to bomb the ceremony if they did not revoke an award they were giving to Sarkeesian. Sarkeesian herself has been the subject of a virtually nonstop harassment campaign since 2012, and in August, she called the police and left home because of very specific and violent death threats.

Nor is she the only woman in games to have been harassed over the past three months. Game developer Zoe Quinn left home in August after an ex-boyfriend posted details of their relationship online, implying (intentionally or not) that she had started romantic relationships to get good press coverage. While these claims were debunked almost immediately, she's remained a major figure in the "Gamergate" controversy that's taken over large parts of the gaming community. Gamergate, a loose movement whose members say they want stricter ethics policies for journalists and an end to "political correctness" in games writing, has nonetheless fostered a group of angry trolls who have prompted some people to leave the industry because of harassment. Most recently, game developer Brianna Wu left home after a series of violent threats to both her and her husband, apparently because she had tweeted images making fun of Gamergate. These messages have included personal details like addresses and the names of family members.

Some members of Gamergate have accused women in games of going so far as to fake threats in order to get attention, or others of carrying out "false flag" attacks to damage the movement's reputation. But a police spokesperson confirmed that Sarkeesian had filed a report with them in August, saying that the case had been referred to the FBI (which neither confirms nor denies that it is investigating it.) Earlier in the summer, the FBI met with the International Game Developers Association to address online harassment of developers, whether as a result of political differences or simply changing a game's balance. So far, none of the messages to Sarkeesian and others have been acted upon, but this is unlikely to be the last time someone on the internet threatens to murder women who make or talk about video games — and anyone who supports them.

**Melissia**

More violence by misogynists whom are mad at women for having opinions-- we've had a number of spree shooters motivated by hatred of women in the past few years, so I'm not surprised they're taking it quite seriously. Threats are nothing new, sadly-- I've had threats directed at me, too... not surprised at all.

Sadly, a lot of people make excuses for this kind of violence or threats thereof, which makes them little better than the ones actually committing it in the end.

**motyak**

Let's go with OT, and we'll be keeping a weather eye on this thread. This is the warning, any over the line behaviour of any kind from either side or an unrelated individual gets the thread locked and warnings given out

**Ouze**

I know at some points it was alleged that some of these calls\threats were fake, plants to rouse sympathy. I for one believe they were all genuine but either way, I think the attention a mass shooting threat garners will root that out pretty quickly were that the case.

**feeder**

Ouze wrote:
I know at some points it was alleged that some of these calls\threats were fake, plants to rouse sympathy. I for one believe they were all genuine but either way, I think the attention a mass shooting threat garners will root that out pretty quickly were that the case.

I'd bet that the threats were genuine, as in they came from someone with real malicious intent towards Ms. Sarkeesian, but that they were also fake, as in if she had gone ahead with her schedule, no shooting spree would have occurred.

**ScootyPuffJunior**

feeder wrote:
Ouze wrote:
I know at some points it was alleged that some of these calls\threats were fake, plants to rouse sympathy. I for one believe they were all genuine but either way, I think the attention a mass shooting threat garners will root that out pretty quickly were that the case.

I'd bet that the threats were genuine, as in they came from someone with real malicious intent towards Ms. Sarkeesian, but that they were also fake, as in if she had gone ahead with her schedule, no shooting spree would have occurred.

I too am inclined to believe that this is most definitely the case.

**Bromsy**

ScootyPuffJunior wrote:
feeder wrote:
Ouze wrote:
I know at some points it was alleged that some of these calls\threats were fake, plants to rouse sympathy. I for one believe they were all genuine but either way, I think the attention a mass shooting threat garners will root that out pretty quickly were that the case.

I'd bet that the threats were genuine, as in they came from someone with real malicious intent towards Ms. Sarkeesian, but that they were also fake, as in if she had gone ahead with her schedule, no shooting spree would have occurred.
I too am inclined to believe that this is most definitely the case.

That's my read. It could be legit, trolling, or a false flag deal. As far as I can tell there is about the same amount of evidence for any of those possibilities. And I love the continuing one sided coverage of the twitter tag that shall not be named.

**KalashnikovMarine**

I give it 50/50 between trolling and Sarkeesian making more false threats. Gotta keep the cash rolling in.

**easysauce**

Take a stand, on anything, or become vocal/popular enough, and you are guaranteed death threats regardless of your gender.

the fact is, and its a sad, sad fact, is that we have enough ingrained cultural mysogeny, and misandry to go around.

There was a recent conference of a mens group in Detroit that received similar death threats, but instead of cancel, they raised more money to cover the additional security instead.

the police didnt step in free of charge for the mens group, it seems this lady in the OP expected them to step in free of charge for hers.

What was that about damsels in distress again?

Girls like Karen Straughan have opinions, and get death threats all the time because she dares to have the opinion that misandry exists in a large, and socially acceptable fashion.

**Ensis Ferrae**

KalashnikovMarine wrote:
I give it 50/50 between trolling and Sarkeesian making more false threats. Gotta keep the cash rolling in.

On the one hand, I'm with you... As I believe the previous threats via that Twitter "screen shot" were completely fake, and completely done up for the purpose of marketing and creating a "scandal"

This however.... I dunno. Depending on the source, if they even trace it, could be more of the same, but I'd probably put it more at like, 70/30 genuine?? 60/40 maybe?

Whether it's genuine or not, it obviously has to be taken seriously by the authorities..

Then again, who really wants to go to Utah?? That there is Mormon country, and that is a whole brand of crazy all on its own

**Sining**

I don't think anyone wants this to happen, pro GG, anti GG, pro Anita or anti Anita. Well, except maybe the crazy person who sent in this threat.

With that being said, hope they catch the guy who sent in the threat. Whether he intended to do so or not, it's still a criminal offense.

**cincydooley**

Is there like, a readers digest version of why this lady is important?

**BlaxicanX**

I warned you not to use insulting language

motyak

It's possible that the threat could be a genuine threat from some beta misogynist, but it's equally likely that it was just some bored 4chanite who knew he could get away with it.

Until we see some actual details beyond "guy calls in threats" I don't see how this can even be classified as news. It's really just confirmation-bias bait.

**nomotog**

ScootyPuffJunior wrote:
feeder wrote:
Ouze wrote:
I know at some points it was alleged that some of these calls\threats were fake, plants to rouse sympathy. I for one believe they were all genuine but either way, I think the attention a mass shooting threat garners will root that out pretty quickly were that the case.

I'd bet that the threats were genuine, as in they came from someone with real malicious intent towards Ms. Sarkeesian, but that they were also fake, as in if she had gone ahead with her schedule, no shooting spree would have occurred.
I too am inclined to believe that this is most definitely the case.

I think that is how it is with most threats, but you know you try and take them all seriously just in case they are real. I recall a few bomb threats or shooting threats that shut down the schools.

One bit I found talked about open carry laws and that they couldn't ban guns? That sounded kind of silly so I don't know if it is true?

cincydooley wrote:
Is there like, a readers digest version of why this lady is important?

In a strange way antia is mostly important because she was threatened. I mean it's not to say that she never existed before then it's just not may people watched her video about Christmas songs with creepy subtext, but then she had a kickstarter project that attracted a massive amount of hate from game fans. That hate then attracted a lot of counter hate. Then basically that dynamic has really overshadowed anything she has done since. It is rarely about what she is saying, but the way people react to what she is saying.

Sining wrote:
I don't think anyone wants this to happen, pro GG, anti GG, pro Anita or anti Anita. Well, except maybe the crazy person who sent in this threat.

With that being said, hope they catch the guy who sent in the threat. Whether he intended to do so or not, it's still a criminal offense.

I don't think this is a GG thing. It seems more a general feminist hate thing.

**Ahtman**

cincydooley wrote:
Is there like, a readers digest version of why this lady is important?

She had the temerity to have an opinion on feminist representation in video games which drove some people indiscriminately insane. She also asked for a small amount of money on KS ($6000) to fund a series about it and got lots of threats which boosted the money higher, which made the people throwing fits complain even more. In truth she doesn't say anything all that unexpected but because she put herself out there she became a lightning rod of internet hate. Even from this thread you can see some of the goofiness surrounding the mole hill.

**Sining**

That's one way of looking at it. In general, people who stand out tend to get death threats, male or female.

**stanman**

Condensed version? She figured out how to ride a one trick pony into money via kickstarter. Outside of that she's a complete waste of time to listen to,

**Sining**

Another way of looking at it.

The more neutral version is Anita is a games culture critic. Not a game critic. A game culture critic, who likes to critic the portrayal of women in games and has arguments that a lot of people disagree with, including many women. However, she also has many supporters as well.

In the past she got 120k on KS for promising to produce some videos, and she's way over the due date on those videos. She also has a patreon account that she likes to mention every now and then

**nomotog**

Sining wrote:
Another way of looking at it.

The more neutral version is Anita is a games culture critic. Not a game critic. A game culture critic, who likes to critic the portrayal of women in games and has arguments that a lot of people disagree with, including many women. However, she also has many supporters as well.

In the past she got 120k on KS for promising to produce some videos, and she's way over the due date on those videos. She also has a patreon account that she likes to mention every now and then

(This sentiment maybe bugs me more then it should.) She isn't really about games. I mean at least not originally. She existed before that. She made videos before she made her kickstarter. The game stuff isn't even it's own thing. It's part of a lager series she has called tropes Vs women.

**Sining**

That's also true. But back then people didn't care about her

**VorpalBunny74**

I sincerely hope they catch the person or persons behind this

**sarpedons-right-hand**

If the threat is genuine, they'll catch them.

**StarTrotter**

Ahtman wrote:
cincydooley wrote:
Is there like, a readers digest version of why this lady is important?

She had the temerity to have an opinion on feminist representation in video games which drove some people indiscriminately insane. She also asked for a small amount of money on KS ($6000) to fund a series about it and got lots of threats which boosted the money higher, which made the people throwing fits complain even more. In truth she doesn't say anything all that unexpected but because she put herself out there she became a lightning rod of internet hate. Even from this thread you can see some of the goofiness surrounding the mole hill.

To be fair she isn't entirely free of fault. She's lied in many ways from using let's plays from other people despite claims of playing the games herself for recording to lying that she likes games when she has no interest in them. More significantly, she has specifically twisted segments of information in various ways to her favor in manipulative manners (for example her allegation that Hit an rewards you for killing female prostitutes and then drag them around or her claim that fallout is abusing dead bodies of women despite that being possible for both sexes and various other flaws). It's also very likely she's trying to ride out the drama and has even falsified some of the claims or over exaggerated some of them.

Not to say I don't agree with the general premise of much of it and, let us be honest, most games don't have all that amazing characters or stories with a tendency to lazy characters, dialogue, and stories held up more because of their gameplay. That and the whole advertisement of games by Aneta is honestly spot on. Overall, it's the standard storm of the Internet where people go wild in a blind mass pillaging of everything and everybody where SJW crawl out of everywhere, feminists both good and bad, MRA jump out, and people get polarized while trolls and ragers and normally decent people start doing each other and sending baseless death threats. Humanity is amazing.

All that said, despite the fact that this is standard procedure for the internet, it is still irritating that we can be so petty. 50/50 as per usual with an assumption it is a baseless threat which is already bad enough. On the off chance that it is true, revolting. Either way it should be looked into as stuff like that whilst unlikely to occur should never be just acceptable to happen because of the inherent risk it might occur.

**ScootyPuffJunior**

The thing that I will never fully understand about any of this is:

Why the feth do people care this much about video games and "gamer culture?"

I get it that most of this really isn't about video games; the games and "gaming culture" (those are sarcastic quotes, by the way) are just being used as an outlet by people on both "sides."

Goddammit, I miss the pre-Internet days when our source of video game information was Nintendo Power and GamePro and people weren't going on Twitter rants about "video game journalism ethics" and threatening to kill each other.

**Bromsy**

ScootyPuffJunior wrote:
The thing that I will never fully understand about any of this is:

Why the feth do people care this much about video games and "gamer culture?"

I get it that most of this really isn't about video games; the games and "gaming culture" (those are sarcastic quotes, by the way) are just being used as an outlet by people on both "sides."

Goddammit, I miss the pre-Internet days when our source of video game information was Nintendo Power and GamePro and people weren't going on Twitter rants about "video game journalism ethics" and threatening to kill each other.

That's the fun part about the internet. You can't even be sure that people do care! For all we know, 90% of these rants are made up by people so they can be offended by or rail against them. There's no real way to know!

**CthuluIsSpy**

Bromsy wrote:
ScootyPuffJunior wrote:
The thing that I will never fully understand about any of this is:

Why the feth do people care this much about video games and "gamer culture?"

I get it that most of this really isn't about video games; the games and "gaming culture" (those are sarcastic quotes, by the way) are just being used as an outlet by people on both "sides."

Goddammit, I miss the pre-Internet days when our source of video game information was Nintendo Power and GamePro and people weren't going on Twitter rants about "video game journalism ethics" and threatening to kill each other.

That's the fun part about the internet. You can't even be sure that people do care! For all we know, 90% of these rants are made up by people so they can be offended by or rail against them. There's no real way to know!

For some reason, that made me think of this

**Goliath**

StarTrotter wrote:
...to lying that she likes games when she has no interest in them.

Yay! This thing again! You got any proof to back up the assertion? (hint: a single video from four years ago, the first time she played games, isn't really that good as evidence that she hates video games)

**Ahtman**

ScootyPuffJunior wrote:
Why the feth do people care this much about video games and "gamer culture?"

Because video games apparently aren't going away anytime soon and huge part of the culture, both East and West. It isn't as if there hasn't be interest in film, music, television, painting, novels, comics ect. It would be stranger if people didn't care or take notice.

**Bromsy**

Goliath wrote:
StarTrotter wrote:
...to lying that she likes games when she has no interest in them.
Yay! This thing again! You got any proof to back up the assertion? (hint: a single video from four years ago, the first time she played games, isn't really that good as evidence that she hates video games)

Well, see not having any interest in video games and hating them are two different things. I would say her not actually producing any evidence that she played any of the games she uses as examples in her videos would be relevant towards showing that she has no interest in video games in and of themselves, but that doesn't necessarily mean she hates video games.

My personal guess she hates video games in about the same capacity as a mining concern hates mountains. They don't but they sure have to bust 'em up to make a living.

**Sining**

Guys, the focus is less whether we think Anita is a valid critic or just someone who's shamelessly 'gaming' the system but on the bomb threat. I don't like her but let's just leave it at 'bomb threats are bad mmkay' can we?