A lecturer at Louisiana State University has been barred from teaching and is now under investigation by Louisiana State Police after allegedly sending a threatening, profanity-laced message to Republican state Sen. Michael Fesi.
Fesi was among the state senators who voted to override Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards' veto of SB 648, thereby ensuring the bill banning child sex-change mutilations would be made law.
The prospect — made a reality with Fesi's help — that children could no longer receive destructive puberty blockers or go under the the knife for irreversible, sterilizing procedures didn't just upset Democrats. It appears to have similarly enraged LSU grad student and lecturer Marcus Venable.
The voicemail message allegedly left by Venable calls Fesi a "f***ing moron" and a "fat f***ing piece of sh**."
"I just want to say congratulations to our state Sen. 'Big Mike' Fesi," says the message. "And that f***ing moron voted to make things worse for people who are already suffering. ... You did not produce any g**damn evidence to support the claims you made about people being harmed by transgender care. Yet we've had tons of empirical evidence telling us there's an increased suicide risk for people who don't get this care."
WAFB-TV indicated that that the allusion to "evidence" about persons harmed by so-called "transgender care" is likely in reference to Fesi's remarks Tuesday at the state Capitol, where he said, "You know who the real experts are, it’s the ones that had this procedure done and are now in their mid-twenties, and late twenties, and trying to say that they hate their parents for letting this happen to them."
While Venable allegedly concluded the message by wishing Fesi a "terrible day," the occasional LSU lecturer appears to have reaped the whirlwind.
Upon receiving the threatening message, Fesi informed the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff's Office, which then turned it over to the LSP, reported WAFB.
"I just want them to do their investigation, and them do what they think’s right. I don’t want to see no harm come to anybody," said Fesi.
Louisiana State Police confirmed to the Advocate that an investigation into Venable was under way.
LSU, which acknowledged that the leftist has taught classes at the school, indicated he will no longer be permitted to do so.
LSU spokeswoman Abbi Rocha Laymoun told the College Fix in a statement Thursday, "As a university, we foster open and respectful dialogue. Like everyone, graduate students with teaching assignments have the right to express their opinions, but this profanity-filled, threatening call crossed the line."
Laymoun added, "This does not exhibit the character we expect of someone given the privilege of teaching as part of their graduate assistantship. The student will be allowed to continue their studies but will not be extended the opportunity to teach in the future."
Venable reportedly did not respond to the College Fix's request for comment.
Legal analyst Franz Borghardt suggested to WAFB that the university was within its rights to prohibit Venable from teaching.
"First and foremost, your constitutional rights to free speech are not absolute, if your words or your expression are threatening, if they are harmful, they are not necessarily absolutely protected," said Borghardt. "So, can LSU respond to a faculty member, albeit an LSU grad student making a profane, potentially threatening voicemail to a member of the legislature, yes I think they can. Because candidly at the end of the day, the call borderlines on a criminal act, whether it be assault, whether it be terrorizing."
Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) responded to the voicemail on Twitter, writing, "My, my, my... I'll be your huckle bearer Mr. LSU Professor."
Sex-change survivor Chloe Cole highlighted how Venable's stated research interests were "criminology, sexual assault, sex-offender recidivism, sex-offender registries."
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee tweeted, "Let's see if @LSU decides this deranged, hateful, & violent bigot ought to get a paycheck from taxpayers or should be invited to take a job cleaning toilets on campus since he gets most of his disgusting words from one."
No comments:
Post a Comment