I’m a student at a large public university. One of my classmates in my degree program is very obviously a dangerous asshole. He’s a misogynistic, racist, Bible-humping, gun-toting, wealthy white boy. Wears a Hawaiian shirt to Zoom classes and calls me a “climate Nazi” in front the the professor. Spending five seconds around him is enough to see he has serious brainworms. Last year, he attempted to physically assault myself and a classmate because we’re openly atheist. I alerted the university and filled a report with campus authorities. Unsurprisingly, they did nothing.
A good friend of mine alerted me today that’s he bought a semiautomatic weapon. I’m really uncomfortable with this. He has a major problem with me (to the point of posting to his alt-right friends that he’s going to “get” me). I am the president of a small student org on campus. He knows that. I’m concerned that he may show up to one of our meetings. Obviously, I can’t get the university to do anything, and the cops would probably pin a fucking medal on him.
TL; DR- There’s a pyscho alt-righter who has threatened me in the past, and I just found out he bought a semiautomatic weapon. Is there anything I can do to keep myself and the members of my club safe?
While self defence ect. Is absolutely worth considering, you ideally don’t want it to get to that stage.
From the sounds of it, your university is doing the standard beurocratic arse covering bullshit of hoping it’ll all go away. That’s because dealing with the problem is going to be a pain in the arse for them.
One thing, as well as the other suggestions here of course, to try is making yourself a bigger pain in the arse to them than dealing with the problem will be. Document and report everything. Keep on complaining until they are in the position where if (god forbid) the worst would happen there’d be massive a pile of reports about him and they would definately lose their jobs. Then they might step in.
Trust your instincts, don’t let them make you feel stupid and document/report everything.
The university also doesn’t want to do anything because this guy is a paying customer. You’re a paying customer too but, if they kick him out, they’re definitely losing a paying customer. If they don’t do anything, they’ll maybe lose a paying customer if you change schools or get killed.
Plus, this guy’s rich, so his family might be donating to the university. Even if they aren’t, the university might be hoping for donations from this guy after he graduates.