Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), who has often accused Israel of “genocide,” appears to think that antisemitic podcaster Hasan Piker should get a chance to speak at the University of Washington, after the public university canceled an event with him scheduled for January.
“I encourage student groups who want to hear from Mr. Piker to work with the university to ensure that they can proceed,” she stated. “As a member of the Judiciary Committee, I have been absolutely clear that free speech is a constitutional right that we must all stand up and protect.”
“I have been communicating my concerns about the cancellation of the Hasan Piker event directly to the university, and they have informed me that they are doing an internal review to ensure this never happens again,” she stated. (JNS sought comment from the school and the congresswoman.)
Jayapal, who endorsed Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, a Democratic Senate candidate in Michigan who campaigned with Piker, spoke differently about hate speech in 2019.
“Hate speech is not ‘free speech.’ It is harmful and threatening,” she stated at the time, when the topic was racist posts on social media rather than Jew-hatred. “Facebook has the power to take down hateful groups, like ‘I’m 10-15,’ and should.”
Mari Leavitt, a Democratic state representative, told JNS that “free speech and bringing in speakers on various topics, even when controversial or abhorrent to some, is central to teaching students critical thinking on various viewpoints and are an important part of learning.”
The university “used extremely poor judgment” by inviting Piker, Leavitt told JNS.
The public school also made a mistake by not including mention of Piker’s “dangerous rhetoric” in the initial event announcement, according to the state lawmaker.
Leavitt said she spoke with a university representative after the original event was announced to express her concerns.
“I was surprised and dismayed it was a department’s official pick, as opposed to a student organization,” she told JNS.
Two schools at the university, the international studies school and the graduate school, were listed as cosponsors of the event, which was to be at Town Hall Seattle.
“I think it’s a possibility that he will be picked up by a student group, and if so, UW will need to mitigate in terms of security and plan for that just as they needed to for other folks that students have invited to campus that were also controversial,” Leavitt told JNS.
