Austinites who expected overwhelming turnout and chaos on Wednesday for the appearance of the leftist political streamer Hasan Piker at the University of Texas at Austin were met with a lackluster showing: more law enforcement than protesters, and an auditorium only three-quarters full.
Despite efforts by both Democrats and Republicans to spread the message that events would go on as planned, students faced what Piker dubbed essentially a “soft cancelling.” The University Democrats received nearly 2,000 RSVPs to the event, but when the university failed to accommodate them with a larger venue, the group was forced to rescind tickets.
