LOGAN, Utah – Students at Utah State University held a rally Wednesday to express both frustration and support after feminist speaker Anita Sarkeesian canceled a planned appearance at the school because she felt a combination of death threats and state law regarding guns on campus meant her safety could not be guaranteed during the appearance.
The FBI is investigating after a death threat was made in connection with the speech, and after USU officials stated that state law means they cannot disallow concealed weapons on campus, Sarkeesian canceled her appearance. Click here for details.
Sarkeesian's decision to cancel her speech left many students and faculty members disappointed, but they were even more upset at the threats that were made against the school. In response, they held a rally Wednesday afternoon.
Word of the rally spread through social media, bringing together dozens of students and faculty at USU’s campus. Those who were looking forward to hearing from Sarkeesian were shattered when the event was canceled, and even more so after finding out it was because of the terrorist threats.
Students said although the event was cancelled, this rally shows that the threats will not stop the voice of feminists.
“Most people want things that are for everybody and its silly that we have people that are so opposed to a movement like this, and I want to show that they are in the sad little minority and there are plenty of people that want change to happen,” said Alexandra Johnson, who was the rally’s organizer.
Since the threat was sent through email, the FBI’s cybercrime task force is involved. They're tracing the path of the email and IP addresses, and school officials said they’re determined to make an arrest.
