What Did Penn State Think Gavin McInnes Was Going to Do?

Next time don't allow a violent gang leader in the door.

Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images

By the time the dust (and tear gas) settled on Monday night, Penn State’s foray into the exciting and action packed world of fascism-appeasement ended pretty much exactly the way anyone with a functioning brain would have expected: terribly.

For those of you not quite as clued into the current college campus fascism drama, let’s summarize: Earlier this month, Penn State’s “Uncensored America” conservative student group invited Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnis and right wing sleazoid Alex Stein, for what was billed as a “politically provocative comedy night” charmingly titled “Stand Back and Stand By” — a reference to former President Donald Trump’s now infamous orders to his various street fighting shock-troops in the weeks leading up to the January 6 insurrection.

Initially defending the decision to hold the event in a campus building, the Penn State administration offered a lengthy, and mealy-mouthed apologia that essentially amounted to “hey, we don’t like it, but what can ya do? Blah blah blah, freedom, blah blah blah use inclusive language instead blah blah just ignore it, okay?” They also recommended two alternate events: a free public lecture on truth and media, and a campus events featuring “several activities, performances and resources to support and promote belonging and community.” In other words, a lot of warm and fuzzy “look over here instead!” options designed to make people ignore and forget that there are fascist figureheads marching in their midst.

Shockingly, things didn’t work out quite as University officials hoped, and on Monday evening, just hours before McInnis and Stein were set to speak, the school abruptly canceled the event, citing “escalating violence and public safety.”

What happened was a group of Proud Boys and allies, animated by McInnis’ presence and the controversy therein, attacked a throng of protesters outside the event space, using fists and — at one point — allegedly spraying them with mace while a growing cohort of police largely stood by.

Zach D Roberts - Photojournalist for hire @zdroberts

Here's the moment that a right-winger went into a crowd of anti-ProudBoy protestors trying to start a fight. Then pepper-sprayed the people around him (including me and @FordFischer). The police watched, not doing anything. I'll add my coverage of the #PennState protests here.🧵

“Tonight, Stein and McInnes will celebrate a victory for being canceled, when in actuality, they contributed to the very violence that compromised their ability to speak,” University President Neeli Bendapudi wrote in her letter announcing the event’s cancellation. “Tonight, counter-protestors also will celebrate a victory that they forced the University to cancel this event, when in actuality they have furthered the visibility of the very cause they oppose.”

Perhaps at this point you can hear a faint rumbling noise. A “gravel scraping across gravel” sort of thing? That’s the sound of me grinding my teeth down to bloody, fractured nubbins at the sort of bullshit both-sidesing Bendapudi seems to be doing here.

The most generous interpretation here is that the University appears be operating under the assumption that it is a wholly neutral arbiter of the public discourse, and thus is powerless to actually throw its weight around in situations like this. At best, this is a delusional fantasy for effete dorks with no real understanding of how the world works. At worst, it’s proof positive that Penn State simply doesn’t take the health and safety of its students seriously. If it did, it would understand that the weeks spent appeasing fascists in the lead-up to their event are weeks spent vindicating the fascists regardless of whether the event itself actually happens. If a wolf is outside you do not have to let them in the door.

As Bendapudi (correctly) noted in her letter to the student body on Monday, “Stein and McInnes will celebrate a victory for being canceled.” That’s true, but what she neglects to mention is that she herself contributed to that victory by presenting McInnes’ cause as one worthy of public debate in the first place. For Bendapudi to then pivot to blaming the anti-Proud Boy protesters — the only people in this situation who correctly identified the threat McInnes poses — is some atomic-grade bullshit. The counter-protesters presence didn’t “further” anything that her own (in)actions didn’t already encourage, no matter what they did on the ground when attacked. By ceding ground to the figureheads of an overtly violent, bad-faith movement, Bendapudi is the only one guilty of “amplifying” the fascists’ message — not the people who were willing to put their bodies on the line in his absence.

Of course, for anyone with two neurons to rub together, all this was predictable from the second the event was announced earlier this month. What exactly did Penn think was going to happen? And why didn’t it listen to the people who knew all along?