Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

Piker’s scheduled appearance at UT Austin ‘deeply concerning,’ Dem congressman says

“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,” said Rep. Henry Cuellar.

Hasan Piker
Hasan Piker speaking at a rally in Philadelphia for Chris Rabb, who is running in the 2026 Democratic primary for Pennsylvania’s 3rd Congressional District, April 30, 2026. Credit: Morgan.rice.bassline.design/Creative Commons via Wikimedia Commons.

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.

Jessica Russak-Hoffman is a reporter for JNS in Seattle.
“It can’t just be business as usual,” Evan R. Bernstein told JNS. “We’re not done yet.”
Abd al-Rahman intended to carry out the attack “in the immediate time frame.”
The Islamic Republic was two weeks away from obtaining the bomb, according to the U.S. president.
The Charedi Public Party says it will protect full-time Torah study while supporting military or national service for ultra-Orthodox men who are not studying in yeshivahs, address math and English instruction in haredi schools.