Antisemitic streamer Hasan Piker, whose appearance the University of Washington canceled after it faced backlash from a bipartisan group of lawmakers, is set to speak at the University of Texas at Austin on Sept. 30.
“Hasan Piker’s scheduled appearance at the University of Texas is deeply concerning,” stated Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas). “Free speech allows difficult and controversial views, but it does not require anyone to stay silent when someone has a history of hateful comments about Jewish Americans, 9/11 and Hamas terrorism.”
The congressman said that Jewish students at the public university “should not be made to feel targeted or unsafe on their own campus” and that the school “should be a place for debate, learning and respect, not antisemitism or rhetoric that excuses terrorism.” (JNS sought comment from UT Austin.)
University Democrats, a student group, stated that the event, which will be held on campus, “is being hosted by University Democrats, not the University of Texas at Austin.”
Piker will be speaking “on a variety of topics, ranging from immigration, to genocide to the future of the Democratic Party,” organizers said.
Andrew Mahaleris, press secretary for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, told JNS that “Hasan Piker said America deserved 9/11 and praised the brutal terrorist organization Hamas. University Democrats at UT Austin are choosing to amplify that disgusting rhetoric.”
“Terrorist sympathizers have no place in Texas,” Mahaleris said.
