At the risk of crossing a political line, questions
There are very prominent people on X - politicians and media - who are criticizing Tech heavily right now for “inviting” a person characterized as highly anti-American to speak. There is a suggestion he spoke at McBryde.
A day or two ago Tech responded to rumors about the event in a way that suggested it was just a rumor. I have seen nothing today.
I am just curious if this appearance actually happened. Did the guy appear on campus or by video or not at all? Who sponsored the event, if anyone? Or is this all fake news?
20 Replies
3mo
Just say no to punditry. All the value of a career politician with even less accountability. These are people who make a living off of making the world a worse place.
Stop listening. For you. For your family. For humanity.
(In response to this post by Tailgate Guru)
3mo
I am concerned about the people who get misled and aren’t bright enough to figure it out.
(In response to this post by Beerman)
3mo
No one is ever concerned about themselves. Everyone is always sure that they understand what they're hearing for exactly what it is, and not impressionable.
At the same time, everyone is also concerned that everyone else will misunderstand or be influenced by the words that they are hearing.
The thing is, social media influencers are not delivering news. They're selling a point of view. And if you were inclined to believe in it, you are the mark
(In response to this post by Tailgate Guru)
3mo
Link:
Click
(In response to this post by Tailgate Guru)
3mo
Their sourcing is to another article from their same network which refers to instagram posts as the source. They just feed into this narrative when it's a handful of people (apparently) from this area that had him speak on zoom.
(In response to this post by Nortazhokie)
J
JM397
3mo
but you can see other sides of this conflict at VT. See link:
Link:
Friends of Israel
(In response to this post by Tailgate Guru)
J
JM397
3mo
and beliefs pushing for voice at VT. I said nothing of violence.
(In response to this post by Tailgate Guru)
3mo
It seems like someone (presumably a VT student) "invited" him to give a Zoom seminar. Anyone at VT can "invite" anyone in the world with an internet connection to give a seminar online and VT would have nothing to do with it.
I saw the discussion online, and I skipped through a bit of the video today. He clearly was not in McBryde, and this had to be the video because he talked about VT at the start and the land grant status, the Morrill Act, etc.
But a bunch of "prominent people on X" that don't do anything but parrot rumors ran with it as if VT administration had given him some sort of platform.
(In response to this post by Tailgate Guru)
E
EDGEMAN
3mo
...he was NOT on campus or in any VT facility? VT students and staff should not be allowed to even host a web-event using VT facilities for anyone calling for "the "destruction of the United States."
(In response to this post by BB Hokie)
H
HOKIERIT
3mo
that promotes, incites, or even invites violence of that kind. There are just WAY to many sick bastages in the world who do NOT need to hear that. This may get nuked for being political, but BOTH sides of the isle surely abhor the violence in society in general. Freedom of speech does NOT extend to freedom to incite violence, I don't care what side you fall on!
(In response to this post by EDGEMAN)
3mo
But if this bozo is doing this elsewhere and just using Tech as a prop, I am wondering why Tech doesn’t have some kind of public statement going full blast right now.
(In response to this post by BB Hokie)
3mo
and I had to Google before I got the answer.
Mohamed Abdou’s appearance at Virginia Tech was not a university-sponsored event, but rather a stop on his independent "Death to the Akademy" campus tour.
The event was hosted by the student group VT4Palestine and an organization called @blackmindedness. (Fox News).
if AI is right, it happened May 1 in McBryde.
** Edited by VaTechie at 5/2/2026, 11:52:05 PM
(In response to this post by Tailgate Guru)
3mo
It bothers me that Tech is taking flak for something that it may not have had the ability to control and that whatever did or didn’t happen may or may not be accurately described by what passes for the mainstream today.
(In response to this post by VaTechie)
3mo
What I saw was a statement that basically indicated this guy declared himself a speaker at VT, asked his followers to be there and said VT can't do anything about it. Basically using free speech as a weapon. Now, I can't remember where I saw that and have no idea if that is true. I just saw VT in a headline and read the article. Never heard of that guy.
(In response to this post by Tailgate Guru)
3mo
(In response to this post by WestyHokie)