Paging David Neiwert. [Updated and Bumped.]
Although I don't expect him to answer the call unless this turns out to be a hoax.
By Moe Lane Posted in Culture — Comments (19) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
[Last UPDATE, probably: Our own Constant Reader civil truth has given us the link in comments to a report that Mr. Nava has confessed to creating a hoax. If that checks out, then expel the... fellow. - Moe Lane]
[The Nigh-Ultimate UPDATE: Ryan T Anderson of First Things has written a clear, concise, and balanced article reviewing the Princeton incident. I recommend it to anybody prepared to start swinging over it. - Moe Lane]
[Further UPDATE: Guess that Neiwert will be getting involved after all: Former hoax and injury details complicate picture of assault (Via Fausta). Short version: the kid wrote some anti-gay slurs outside of his high school dorm room; he's readily copped to doing that as part of a hoax, but the Anscombe Society is asking that people not start shouting about the attack until it's confirmed that there actually was one. So there's that. OTOH, the same article reports that the cops are going off the record to say that this looks like a real attack. So there's that. OTGH, I think that the article implied that Francesco Nava is himself gay, or formerly gay, or something - which tells us absolutely nothing about whether all of this is more or less likely to be true, but will nonetheless be brandished by various people to support various arguments. Ah, the Internet. - Moe Lane]
[UPDATE: Fausta lives in the area, and she's a sensible sort, so she'll probably be keeping on top of this. - Moe Lane]
We either have a fairly serious hate crime going on here at Princeton University, or an elaborate hoax. Let's walk through the chronology:
1). Several members of the Anscombe Society - a Princetonian conservative group that is pro-chastity and anti-gay marriage - have reported receiving hate mail, including death threats.
2). It's also been reported that the response to this by Princeton University was distinctly anemic.
3). One of those students - one Francesco Nava, who has written what was apparently a not well-received article about the University Health Service's providing of condoms here - was reportedly attacked on Friday night by two individuals who used the same language as that found in the emails. The reported injuries were relatively minor; cuts, abrasions, and a mild concussion. More details here and here.)
(Originally via Instapundit.)
All caught up, then? Excellent.
Read on.
First off, a disclaimer: while I was chaste for quite long periods of time in college, it wasn't for lack of trying. In fact, I would have been happy to be quite the filthy libertine, if only I could have found somebody willing to indulge me. Of course, now that I am older, happily married, and have a kid, I am of course free to be the absolute hypocrite and solemnly declare that college students shouldn't fornicate their brains out. And really, they shouldn't, and they are capable of not doing it, agitprop to the contrary... but I'm more concerned with the idiotic things that they're learning from their professors, really.
All of this means that I'm not necessarily on the Anscombe Society's side (in fact, when it comes to same-sex marriage I'm on the other one) with regard to their core issue. I'm also quite aware that we've had quite the rash of hate-crime hoaxes coming from the Other Side lately; there's nothing stopping one of ours from doing it, alas, and to be honest? The timeline sounds a little smooth, and there's not much ambiguity here. For all I know, that's just a relic of the way this was reported (you'll note that it's all campus newspapers reporting this so far), but I still look with some interest in the University's conclusions.
And they will have to investigate this now. As it is, if this turns out to be real, Princeton University is severely hosed. There's already enough for a killer civil suit; the last thing the university would need is some sort of suggestion that a cover-up took place. For that matter, I'm kind of curious myself why it apparently requires an actual physical assault to make a university agency take notice of threats against conservatives, and I suspect that all of you are kind of curious, too.
Moe Lane
PS: I am addressing the possibility that this is a hoax not because I seriously believe that it is one (I don't have enough information yet either way), but because it is not outside the realm of possibility; and just because people like Neiwert check under their beds each night for scary, violent right-wingers, doesn't mean that I should do the equivalent.
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Paging David Neiwert. [Updated and Bumped.] 19 Comments (0 topical, 19 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
liberal's rule those institutions and group think is the order of the day.
Freedom of Religion not Freedom from Religion
Let's assume it's a hoax: If so, that has to be the stupidest hoax ever perpetrated by a Princeton University student. Generally speaking, people with IQs in the upper 15% of the population generally don't beat themselves unconscious in order to perpetrate a hoax on other people. In other words, I would take his injuries as prima facie evidence that he was attacked, and there's significant circumstantial evidence to indicate the attack was related to the emails he's received. So my guess is that I would trust the police report and the hosiptal report of Mr. Nava's injuries. I somehow find it difficult to believe that a Princeton student would deliberately give themself a concussion just to help their student group.
I mean, it strains credulity that anyone associated with the Anscombe society would hatch a plan to highlight their "persecution" that goes like this:
"Yeah, we'll send fake emails to ourselves and a conservative professor threatening violence. And then, we'll dress up in black and beat Francisco's head in to draw attention to ourselves. That'll show 'em."
Doesn't make much sense.
Let's say it's a hoax and nobody believes the hoax, even after Mr. Nava's injuries? What do they do for an encore? Shoot each other?
by a Princeton University student"? Maybe.
But other schools have offered competition. Do you remember the young woman from (I don't remember where) who faked her kidnapping. She lived in a tunnel for days and had her parents in grief. It turned out that she didn't feel prepared for her finals and the kidnapping seemed like a reasonable Plan B.
But I just think it's a stretch to think they're *that* stupid at Princeton. If it all turns out to be a hoax it'll discredit their cause and their organization will disappear at Princeton. I sincerely hope they aren't that stupid. I don't think they are based on what I've read: it sounds like a pretty straightforward assault case, to me.
Ended up being one of the dumbest guys I ever encountered.
Envisioning when all that is Left is the Right.
...it's only a red necked Conservative that was attacked.
"Nothing to see here. Move along now."
Well, let's just say like many of the other seemingly minor college campus incidents, unless this gets handles correctly and expeditiously there will be several effects;
- The generous giving of alumni will stop
- Prospective parents of future students, such as myself, will take them off the list
These college campuses always talk about how they value diversity, then fail to address issues when it involves people with consevative ideals. What they don't realize is some of their graduates get into the real world and discover it's not all the idealist, liberal utopia as they have been told.
They will also not attract the "diversity" which they tell us is so greatly valued. I certainly understand as a prestigious university, they care less for such opines due to an overwhelming demand for their services. Nonetheless, to make folks nonplus about this decision ulimately vitiates their alleged ideals and principles. For me, the latter point is enough to make me take my $50k a year somewhere else.
"Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori"
Contributor to The Minority Report
But the important issue is....was a noose involved in this incident. If not then move on.
White guy beats up white guy and tells him to shut up. Not a hate crime, folks. But it sure sounds like the little dweeb deserved it.
...I just would like to note for the record that I don't agree with this that hate crimes must be racially motivated to be valid. I think that, say, somebody being beaten up for being gay qualifies, even if this 13martyrs fellow didn't.
:sigh: I really do wish that they'd stop coming to our sites to try to express the impure thoughts that they don't dare display on theirs.
The Fuzzy Puppy of the VRWC. I've been usurped!
I don't know if this would fit under NJ or Federal "Hate Crime" definition based on what is presented here. While the Society's view can be put in a religious context, they do not qualify themselves as a religious organization and the threats were not specific in that regard (according to my read).
That said, felony assault, terrorist threats, et al charges are a slam dunk for any back-bench junior prosecutor. More importantly, Shirley Tilghman should embark on a very public campaign to disavow these acts and advise if the perpetrators are students they will be expelled. History shows this can very quickly become a deeper dive into everything else happening on campus. While holistically they are a fairly responsible university, once the press and blogs start investigating they will be fighting fires from now until St. Ignatius Day.
"Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori"
Contributor to The Minority Report
I felt it was a good start on an anti-graffiti program.
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We are all heroes, you and Boo and I. Hamsters and rangers everywhere, rejoice!
The on-line article starts:
Francisco Nava '09 has admitted to fabricating an alleged assault on him that he said occurred Friday evening and also to sending threatening emails to himself, other members of the Anscombe Society and prominent conservative politics professor Robert George, Princeton Township Police said today.
My checking of Google confirms that the named spokesman, Ernest Silagyi, is a sargent/detective in the Princeton Police.
I would like to see confirmation by other sources, but it appears that the case is unraveling. I am puzzled, though, why the DP dateline is 12/14 since the story appears to be current (12/17).
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I agree that the First Things article is an excellent presentation of the case and the chronology.
First Things reports that Mr. Nava has confessed that he stated the whole thing. For shame, and may he recieve the pastoral or psychological care that he appears to need. Kudos to the right for not raising the hue and cry before these things coudl be checked out.
There actually was a little bit of a hue and cry. Horowitz, Insty and others all ran with the story, calling it a "hate crime".
When I hear about a college kid who's campaigning for abstinence, alarm bells go off in my head.
To say that Nava needs "pastoral or psychological" care sounds suspiciously liberal to me. I think he needs to be expelled, then charged.
It appears that he's already given himself the beating he deserves, though.
After reading the very thorough First Things article, I'm sensing that this anti-gay student activist has a lot in common with Senator Larry Craig.
The student, however, has a much better chance of an honest life ahead. He has admitted to his hoax and may now be able to break free from his double life.
More attention is paid to a noose getting left on a door - that nearly always turn out to be posted by a lefty 'making a point'- than to physical assaults and direct real intimidation of conservatives.
In doing this the universities are enabling what they claim to be against - suppression and censorship of ideas in the public square. I hope lawsuits do get filed and are vigorously pursued. We on the right or left who care about civil liberty have sat still far too long regaarding this stuff.