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PAX East Speaker Threatened With Violence by Enforcer
Muckraker18
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So Ben Kuchera of Polygon, but also a former Penny-Arcade employee at the PA Report just tweeted that there is apparently an Enforcer openly attacking one of the PAX East speakers on his Twitter. Openly threatening physical violence and encouraging others to make fun of her. No name for either, but she is apparently involved with speaking out against online harassment and this was the Enforcer's response. Sigh.
So yeah... I assume Ben still has some contacts at PA to get this taken care of and I'm not trying to start a big drama thread... but I just feel like this is something Penny-Arcade fans should be made aware of, because the only way to stop this crap is to shine a light on it. PAX is supposed to be a happy place where all of the online nonsense fades away and people come together to celebrate their shared interests. If one of the very people trusted with maintaining a sense of security at said happy place really did this, I hope PA comes down hard.
So yeah... I assume Ben still has some contacts at PA to get this taken care of and I'm not trying to start a big drama thread... but I just feel like this is something Penny-Arcade fans should be made aware of, because the only way to stop this crap is to shine a light on it. PAX is supposed to be a happy place where all of the online nonsense fades away and people come together to celebrate their shared interests. If one of the very people trusted with maintaining a sense of security at said happy place really did this, I hope PA comes down hard.
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It appears as though they are handling it.
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Some people are blowing up the photo into stalking, it was one consensual selfie, one of many he's taken with celebs at the con. The big bad dumb stupid part comes when he retweets a terrible joke about killing her to be the chosen one. I hope he's gone from the con because that is a real dumb thing to do.
Fortytwo's blog about fatherhood, life, and everything.
Fortytwo's blog about fatherhood, life, and everything.
I believe that "Gabe and Tycho" are genuinely awesome human beings. But Penny-Arcade got into trouble once because some took offense over the "Dickwolves rape" cartoon and also Mike specifically has gotten involved in some Twitter fights that turned ugly with some insensitive LGBT remarks. I haven't seen them personally speak out against GamerGate, but I think that is just because they are trying to stay away from certain kinds of controversy because of the baggage in their own past. To be clear: Mike has apologized several times, and again, I believe PA is a great organization run by great people. But I don't blame them for staying silent on GG, because there would probably be a bunch of people that would immediately call them hypocrites, etc, because that's how online conversations work. My two cents. But I would love for them to make a cartoon taking down GG.
Edit: See my post below. They have apparently talked about it a little... but still not like how I wish they would.
They focused on the positive aspects of PAX in person compared to online arguments. Which is fine. But yeah, I would have liked them to just come out and say that the harassment angle is BS. The CEO of Blizzard stood up at Blizzcon last year and spoke out against it. I'd like to see more powerful, huge people in the industry just come out and call them out.
Edit: Or more specifically, I don't like that in the above news post he sounded like he sympathized with GGers who were not sending threats and just wanted better journalism. Maybe there are some people like that, but it's been well established that the people sending the death threats and verbally abusing women are the ones who initially came up with the idea to redirect the discussion onto gaming journalism. It's a red herring. Yes, games journalism needs fixed, but anyone who chooses to use the Gamergate hashtag is associating themselves with a hate movement, regardless of their personal goals. That's what needs to be said. Don't try to please both sides, call them out for what they are.
Maybe the reason why folks want to stay out of this discussion is because of how folks will try to spin anything they do say into a weapon that can be used against them.
Enforcers are not, and never have been, part of show security. Folks really need to stop perpetuating that myth. (Although Brianna Wu clearly is confused by this too.) There are a few enforcers who interface with site security, but on the whole, that's not what they do.
At East, there are uniformed and plainclothes security staff all over the BCEC. I've been told some plainclothes security are off duty Boston PD and MBTA PD, but I don't know that firsthand. East is one of the largest events in that building; security is plentiful, and visible. Brianna Wu had her OWN security with her, which is perfectly understandable given what she's dealt with.
This young man most likely is learning a harsh lesson that words have consequences, joking or not joking. One has to assume he was removed from the convention, and earned a lifetime ban to all future PAX events, if not the BCEC in general.
So far it looks like nope, that didn't happen.
While I believe he is sincere that he wouldn't ever harm her, words (not even his, but he gave them a megaphone) have consequences and he needs to be removed from PAX. A lifetime ban? I don't think so, he's just an idiot and hopefully learns a valuable lesson.
Note: He also said some not cool things about Anita Sarkeesian that were graphically sexual in the past and has thrown around pro-gg hash tags as well after claiming on Twitter he's neutral, I assume to try and damage control the situation a bit.
People really need to realize that the shit you post online can't (usually) be erased after its been seen and can seriously effect your life down the road.
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I really wish PA would take a firm stance against Gamer Gate. It really feels as if they want to toe toe the line so as not to create controversy again for the umpteenth time, but I think it would go a long way (or at least make strides) towards healing those that have been upset by the stuff Mike has said in the past.
That being said, one of the tenets of the PAX experience is inclusiveness. It's supposed to be a safe haven, a place where everyone accepts everyone for whoever they are and whatever they like. Now, you have someone directly associated with a vulgar group of harassers who was an Enforcer, directly associated with the show. That's going to affect people, and make them seriously consider their future attendance. Is it going to kill the show? No. But it's going to impact people. If they can't feel safe, they're not going to go.
Maybe a lifetime ban is a bit much, but I don't think he'll be around for a while. Hopefully he learns his lesson, and apologizes to Ms. Wu.
EDIT; And to those that dispute the inclusiveness / safe place perspective, I point you to Mike's words:
Source : http://www.penny-arcade.com/news/post/2013/09/04/some-clarification
EDIT EDIT : Per official PAX policies, what happened constitutes grounds for a lifetime show ban.
Quite frankly I think things like this deserve some light jail time... So a lifetime ban from a convention would be getting off easy.
They've sure acted like it in the past from what I've seen (went in 07, 08, 10, and 12). And you know. Them being called "Enforcers".
There are plenty of GGers on Twitter saying shit like "I've hidden aids infested needles around pax, try and find them" or directly threatening to kill people. These are the people who deserve that, not this guy.
Why the hell not this guy? He threatened someone at the convention.
Edit: I feel like I am defending him, which is weird, so let me reiterate that he is a moron who made some really poor choices and needs to learn how life works. He should be stripped of his Enforcerness and kicked from the show and maybe get banned for a year or something. People like this kid can be rehabilitated and learn a lesson by getting shamed and reprimanded, not punishment/vengeance.
Sorry, threats aren't jokes.
But it doesn't. Wasn't the first time he had RT'd or otherwise made comments in this realm.
Consider this. He obviously knew who Ms. Wu was. If you know who she is, it's highly unlikely that you are unaware of the harassment she's endured. If you're at PAX, and an Enforcer, even less likely, if not impossible to NOT know. So knowing she had been the subject of threats, he ACTIVELY PARTICIPATED in another one.
It's inexcusable to make any such threat towards another person, jokingly or not. It's doubly so to do it at the expense of a person who has been hounded by such things. It's infinitesimally more so to do it at an event like this, where you are an effective representative, even if you're only a person there to make sure people are standing inside the tape lines on the floor.
When someone who very publicly has been the target of death threats is in a pic and someone bemoans the other not "going in for the kill," and how he could have been "the chosen one."
Joking about someone's death - someone who very publicly has received death and rape threats - it is a bad look. He should know better - oh no wait, he knew exactly what he was doing.
Fortytwo's blog about fatherhood, life, and everything.
I can't say I've had the same experience at East. Missed '14 due to a work project, and '15 thanks to a canceled flight, but attended '10-'13 in Boston. I've never seen an Enforcer be anything but overwhelmingly helpful, if a little too strict on the damn tape lines sometimes.
However, GG was never really about that. Not really. It was something that was used to bring unsuspecting people into their ranks to be used as pawns in a twisted Chan operation. It is built around misogyny, fear, and general bigotry of many kinds. Knowing this, it would be nice to see the guys take this head-on and let GG know they do not have an ally here.
From the general sense of the forums it does not appear that they do. Not in SE anyway.
Fortytwo's blog about fatherhood, life, and everything.
Fuck that guy. I was wrong.
I definitely agree with this. I understand their unwillingness to jump into a very polarizing shit show, regardless of what "side" they take. And it's also true that GG was never about journalism, in any way except as a smokescreen. So, yeah, I'd like to see PA not tiptoe around the issue and say a clear, unambiguous: "This shit is bad and we don't stand for it". Though, again, I understand why they'd rather steer completely clear of the whole thing. I just don't think they can anymore.
At any rate, it's good to see GG don't have an ally in SE. I know that in the D&D thread about the issue, they did not have an ally here either. Nor did they in the Hub. This is at least a good sign re: a portion of the PA fanbase/community.
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No harrassment, bullying, threatening should ever be allowed.
I'm so sick and tired of people saying that a punishment is too harsh, oh give him another chance.
No.
Punishment should always be more severe than the crime committed. It would then be not worth your time to do the stupid crime in the first place.
Good on Penny Arcade and the local security for processing this quickly, efficiently, and with the repercussions deemed appropriate.
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I don't think very many people truly believe that though. I suspect most people who repeat it believe it is a blatant lie and hope it will make her look bad.
Fortytwo's blog about fatherhood, life, and everything.
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I don't give two shits about GG, but when someone takes money for being a victim (go donate to her paetron everyone!) then incidents like this are HIGHLY suspect.
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