After the shocking alleged assault on The Quartering’s Jeremy Hambly at Gencon 2018, things haven’t slowed down. As details came in on the alleged attacker and suspect, Gen Con began shutting down and censoring any discussion of the assault on their official Twitch page as well as other social media platforms. They still haven’t made any official statements.
But it doesn’t end there.
Shark Tank, Battle Bots, and Nerdist producer Ben McShane weighed in on the assault by actually cheering it on. He didn’t stop there, he endorsed the attack on Jeremy and even began advocating for more attacks on people like Jeremy. He also justified the attack by labeling Jeremy a Nazi, a tactic we’ve seen used by the likes of Tim Doyle and Kieran Shiach.
I’m just relieved someone punched the Nazi
— Ben McShane ? GenCon (@TeeVeeBen) August 3, 2018
McShane, who produces Fangirling for Nerdist, even pinned a post to the top of his Twitter feed doubling down on his stance of encouraging and promoting political violence.
Hi fascists and fascist sympathizers! Have you found me because I’m glad a Nazi got punched?
1) I don’t owe you engagement.
2) Fascism, -gate misogyny, and racism pose an existential threat to my family, community, and country.
3) Public assault on Nazis is good and effective.— Ben McShane ? GenCon (@TeeVeeBen) August 3, 2018
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He goes on to dismiss civil engagement with those he so “wisely” deems to be fascists while again promoting acts of violence against a group of people he doesn’t agree with.
We know fascists make “rational” arguments in bad faith. Civic engagement cannot defeat bad fair.
If fascists experience physical harm for publicly holding fascist views, they stop expressing those views in public. It works. That’s why this is so triggering for you.
— Ben McShane ? GenCon (@TeeVeeBen) August 3, 2018
This isn’t the first time McShane has targeted people he disagrees with as Nazis. Last November, he labeled Sebastian Gorka, the former Deputy Assistant to President Donald Trump, a Nazi.
You are a literal Nazi who couldn’t get security clearance
— Ben McShane ? GenCon (@TeeVeeBen) November 3, 2017
Gorka is anything but a Nazi. He’s a British-born Hungarian-American and counter-terrorism expert. He’s had an extensive career working for Great Britain, Hungary and the United States. He’s currently a Fox News contributor, but previously worked at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, a program that was funded by the United States Department of Defense.
Given the people McShane has labeled a Nazi, I wouldn’t be surprised if he would label anyone who supports Jeremy Hambly or watches his videos, whether they voted for Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, or stayed home, a Nazi and want to commit violence against them.
Only violence against fascists, who pose an existenial threat to my family, community, and country.
— Ben McShane ? GenCon (@TeeVeeBen) August 3, 2018
Interestingly enough in April of this year McShane declared he wasn’t an advocate of violence. I wonder what happened?
I’m not an advocate of violence, but we’re all better for this happening. https://t.co/LmWKAjOugR
— Ben McShane ? GenCon (@TeeVeeBen) April 21, 2018
However, in August of 2017 he believed it was justifiable.
I dunno, sometimes I think some political violence is justifiable, and a threat should be made to the physical bodies of white nationalists.
— Ben McShane ? GenCon (@TeeVeeBen) August 12, 2017
Does Nerdist and Legendary Digital Networks, Nerdist’s parent company, support this kind of rhetoric? Are they okay with their producers calling for violence against the people who more than likely watch their television shows, buy their movies, and generally consume their products?
Should Nerdist open an internal investigation into Ben McShane regarding violent rhetoric against Jeremy Hambly and others?