Social event in Washington D.C. ruined
[Photo via Daddy_Warpig.]
A recent #GamerGate-themed meetuporganizedby “critic of contemporary feminism” Christina Hoff Sommers and political pundit/wonkMilo Yiannopoulos was put to a disturbing and sudden end a few days ago. Current reports vary on if the event was attacked by a bomb threat, some other promise of violence, or both, but it remains clear that local police we concerned enough to ask the reported 300+ #GamerGate “members” inattendance to leave the premises as they investigated the situation.
As you might expect, accusations are currently being thrown back and forth across gaming’s political aisle as to whether the threats came from those who view #GamerGate as a hate group, or by “members” of #GamerGate themselves in order to help signal boost their “cause” and gain sympathy from would-be supporters.
Seeing as how both Hoff Summers and Yiannopoulos showed little-to-no visible interest in gaming prior to their apparent recognition of #GamerGate’s signal boosting power (in fact, Yiannopoulos even went as far as to describe gamers in their 30s as “a bit tragic” not that long ago), it’s easy to see why some are suspicious about this particular threat. Regardless, the whole thing is a mess and we at Destructoid are grateful that no one was hurt.
For more about #GamerGate, and its origins as a smear campaign against a game developer by her ex-boyfriend, check out this recent article on Boston.com.
GamerGate Meetup Evacuated After Apparent Threat[Kotaku]