I heard about the AVfM Detroit hotel controversy a few days ago, and thought I’d keep my mouth shut until Paul Elam made up his mind about how to handle it. It seems donors came through and paid off the protection fee plus associated insurance, which came out to $25,000 — about what I guessed they’d want. Actually, I guessed $20,000 for the cops alone, not taking the insurance fee into account.
I’m glad the conference is going ahead as planned, and I hope this is the last of its troubles, but I wouldn’t count on it.
I took a look at the letter the hotel sent to Paul, and quite frankly it screamed bullshit. I don’t believe anyone threatened the staff and other guests, for starters, and I don’t even think there were any credible threats at all. Honestly, the hotel’s letter had the same tone one sees in those 419 scams. In my opinion, it was just the good old Detroit PD’s extortion racket plus in all likelihood a kickback to the hotel manager. Do I think a feminist called the hotel? Probably. I’m sure someone even said nasty things about AVfM. And it is always possible one of those street junkie Marxists made a threat by phone. But if the latter had happened, then where’s the police report? Surely, if AVfM is required to cough up $25k, then there must be some corroborating, official evidence, even if it has been manufactured out of whole cloth. I mean, did the police or the hotel even bother to check the phone logs?
Following is the text of the letter for those who haven’t seen it (AVfM took it down for some reason, but it’s still archived on Google):
DOUBLETREE SUITES
May 29, 2014
Mr. Paul Elam
A Voice for MenHouston, TX _
Re: Quick Confirmation Agreement – Revised between A Voice for Men (Group) and Fort Shelby Hotel Master Tenant lLC (tlOwner”) regarding the event contracted from June 26-29, 2014 at the DoubletreeSuites by Hilton Detroit Downtown – Fort Shelby (the “Agreement”).
Dear Mr. Elam: Regarding the International Conference on Men’s Issues scheduled at our hotel, the DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Detroit Downtown – Fort Shelby, we have received numerous calls and threats and are concerned for the safety and well-being of our employees, our guests and your attendees. The threats have escalated to include death threats, physical violence against our staff and other guests as well as damage to the property. The callers have indicated that they will be stationed within the hotel as guests, which raises our level of concern.
We take these threats seriously and for the protection of our staff and guests, Under Section 8 of the Agreement, we may require you to provide, at your expense and in our discretion, adequate security in light of the nature of your Event. Based upon the nature of these threats, we have determined that adequate security measures include the engagement of the Detroit Police Department (DPD) to secure the building. Based upon the number of access and egress points we will require 2 Detroit Police officers in the lobby and 3 officers on the meeting room floor, each on a 24 hour basis. As the threats include accessing the guests floors another 3 officers on the guest floors on a 24 hour basis. This is a minimum of 7 officers at all times, 24 hours a day but could increase based on further threats orcircumstances that warrant the addition of security.
As noted in Section 8, the cost associated with this enhanced security is the responsibility of the Group and the Group must provide us with proof and evidence of such security being engaged.
Accordingly, you will need to contact and contract directly with the DPD for such services. Such contract must be a firm commitment with no contingencies. Once you have contracted with the OPO, we require a copy of the signed contract for our files.
In addition, the Section 19 of the Agreement requires you to Commercial General liability Insurance with limits not less than Two Million US dollars ($2,000,000 US) with the Hotel and “Hotel Indemnified Parties” added as additional insured under all applicable polices (in addition to the other requirements under Section 19).
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In light of the upcoming announced protests in advance of your meeting and the need for advanceplanning, we must receive (1) confirmation and a copy of the contract with DPD and {2} evidence of insurance in accordance with Section 19, induding additional insured status by no later than June 6, 2014 for your event to proceed.
We also remind you of your obligations under the Agreement to control the conduct of your event (Section 9 of the Agreement). Accordingly, we will ask the assistance of the Group and your attendees to abide by any security measures we deem necessary as we move closer to the event date and to participate in your actions to minimize the disruption to the hotel’s business.
While we understand your commitment to move forward with this event, I am sure you will agree that the safety and well-being of your attendees, other guests and our staff cannot be taken lightly.
Seems whoever wrote the letter can’t even count… 2+3+3 = 7?
The entire substance of the letter boils down to this:
“Somebody called and made threats, so fork over a large sum of money and don’t get any ideas about trying to negotiate.”
And with absolutely no corroborating evidence (that I know of, and knowing Paul he’d have already broadcast it if there were). This, my friends, is what extortion looks like.
Sometimes, it is worth it to hire an attorney to look over an agreement before you sign it.
However, I do fully believe that Paul and the people at AVfM believe the threats were credible. There’s no reason to make something like that up from that end, as feminists are suggesting. I think they’re being naïve, but there’s no sin in that.
The problem with Detroit is that it is the most left-wing city in the US, and AVfM, despite its best efforts, simply doesn’t fit into that coalition. AVfM is comprised mainly of men – and mostly white men at that – and if they are allowed on the grievance train, who is left to take from? Certainly there are men in Detroit who have had it hard, and it’s a shame, but the city now has one of the highest female-to-male ratios of any city in the US. And trust me, the females in Detroit are not dumb enough to think that they’ll derive any advantage at all from siding with men who don’t want to be forced to support women.
So politically speaking there’s probably subzero support for AVfM in Detroit. Holding an MRA conference there is roughly akin to holding a reparations conference in Boise, Idaho — the locals aren’t going to like you much. However, at least in Boise there’s a very low crime rate, and an effective city government. Detroit has neither advantage, and has earned a reputation of being one of the most corrupt cities in the US.
Finally, there are ethical issues with paying off people who may very well be profiting from threats, if indeed they were made. Is it a good idea to provide a profit incentive to those who might be tempted to use these methods again in the future? If people learn that one can simply phone in an anonymous threat that will cost their opponents a lot of money, and they will either spend nothing or even perhaps in some isolated cases get paid to do so, then won’t some of them quickly adopt this tactic?
This is why appeasement has become a dirty word over the years. When the innocent party must take responsibility for the wrongdoer’s actions, it creates an incentive to commit crimes to achieve goals.
This is simply my take on the matter. I had nothing to do with organizing the event, so the attendees and organizers are obviously free to make their own choices. But I do think it sets a dubious precedent.
However, it does seem to have resulted in a fair amount of publicity and attention, and if something does go wrong, after being forced to pay off the Detroit PD AVfM could come out looking like the victim here.
In any event, best of luck to the attendees and speakers, and hopefully all goes smoothly, but next time I’d recommend a qualitatively different venue.
