A Louisiana state senator shrugged off a menacing curse-ridden rant from a Louisiana State University (LSU) grad student after he backed a bill to ban sex-reassignment surgery for minors.
State Sen. Michael “Big Mike” Fesi (R-Terrebonne) told Fox News’s Laura Ingraham on Friday’s “The Ingraham Angle” that the alleged caller, identified as Marcus Venable, left the “off-the-wall” voice message after he cast his vote “for the children” to successfully override Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards’ veto of the legislation.
(Video: Fox News)
“I just wanted to say, ‘Congratulations to our state Sen. ‘Big Mike’ Fesi. And that f–king moron voted to make things worse for people who are already suffering, you fat f–king piece of s–t,” Venable began.
“You did not produce any g–d–n evidence to support the claims you made about people being harmed by transgender care, yet we’ve had tons of empirical evidence telling us there’s an increased suicide risk for people who don’t get this care,” he continued. “So, you big, fat-headed mother—-er, I can’t wait to read your name in the f–king obituary.”
“I will make a g–d–n martini from the tears of butthurt conservatives when we put your f–king a– in the grave,” he fumed.
After a few more F-bombs, the grad student wished the state senator “a terrible day” before hanging up.
Fesi appeared unfazed by the disturbing call.
“I’m doing this for our children, and so I kind of felt like somebody is just off-the-wall,” he said, adding that he “just took it and decided to turn it over to state police and let them handle it.”
Ingraham noted that Venable, identified by LSU, is a “graduate assistant” with research interests in “criminology, sexual assault, sex-offender recidivism, and sex-offender registries.”
LSU responded by relieving Venable of his teaching duties but has allowed him to continue his studies at the college.
“As a university, we foster open and respectful dialogue. Like everyone, graduate students with teaching assignments have the right to express their opinions, but this profanity-filled, threatening call crossed the line,” LSU spokesperson Abbi Rocha Laymoun said in a statement to the Illuminator. “This does not exhibit the character we expect of someone given the privilege of teaching as part of their graduate assistantship. The student will be allowed to continue their studies but will not be extended the opportunity to teach in the future.”
Asked for his reaction, Fesi noted that there is “no reason” for someone who disagrees with you to get so “emotional.”
“I think that we all have to learn to agree to disagree and shouldn’t get irate over things,” he said. “It is all about what we believe and they believe, or however they want to put it, but there’s no reason to get irate and get emotional like that when we are trying to just do our own beliefs.”
He explained that it was important to him to see the bill, which he tried to pass two years ago, pass.
“I know a lot more about it than he thinks I do, because I had a lot of evidence from when I ran it two years ago,” Fesi said, “and there’s a lot more suicide from children that get into their 20s from getting this done too soon and then wanting to go back to what they originally were.”
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Melissa Fine is the former executive editor of Casino Player, Strictly Slots, and Poker
Digest magazines. She is a UCLA graduate, news junkie, and dedicated Stargate SG-
1 fan. Melissa currently lives with her dog and two cats in a tiny town in the Sierra
Nevada foothills.
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