AG man threatens Lauren Southern, gets kicked off Twitter

May 24, 2017

By KAREN VELIE

An Arroyo Grande man threatened to forcibly stop activist-journalist Lauren Southern from speaking at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo on Thursday evening. Southern is a Canadian conservative with libertarian leanings who is a vocal critic of feminism and mass immigration.

On Tuesday afternoon, Bill Leys, who goes by the “The Snarky Shit Stirrer” on social media, warned Southern that she would not be permitted to speak at Cal Poly.

“Lauren Southern you might show up at Cal Poly, but you won’t be speaking here,” Leys wrote on Twitter. “Let’s be clear, hate is met head on with force.”

Less than an hour later, Southern informed Leys that she would not let his threat deter her.

“Oh I can assure you, I’ll be speaking,” Southern responded on Twitter.

Shortly afterwards, Twitter suspended The Snarky Shit Stirrer for violating Twitter rules.

Even so, dozens of people noted the irony of Leys’ post.

“Moron doesn’t even see that he’s the hater. “Met with force.” The stupid, it burns,” posted a Twitter user by the name Pray for Israel.

On his Facebook page, Lays promotes violence against those who voice opposing views.

“Open resistance, defiance of unmoral authority, questioning authority and meeting fascists with violence and smashing them down is morally just,” Leys said in a Jan. 21 post on Facebook which received a thumbs up from New Times cartoonist Russel Hodin.

On Twitter, Southern’s supporters noted the irony of those who claim to oppose fascism while promoting violence against people who express different views.

“Did they just threaten you with violence? For speaking? Lol fascism,” the user One Pun Man tweeted.

Over the past year, Cal Poly College Republicans have received multiple threats of violence regarding speakers they have brought to campus.

“The College Republicans will continue to be champions of the First Amendment for all students, faculty, and community members at Cal Poly,” said Robert Surane, a Cal Poly College Republicans Board director. “It is within everyone’s right to peacefully protest, but it is not their right to forcefully shut down an event solely because they disagree with it.”

Leys has a history of attacking young women on social media, often referring to them as c**nts or prostitutes. Lays, a supporter of SLO County Supervisor Adam Hill, made demeaning comments about a daughter of Hill’s political opponent and the children of reporters who covered Hill critically during last year’s campaign.

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