'Pro rape' group Return of Kings cancel meeting in Naas due to fears over their safety

Good riddance.

The planned international meet-up of misogynist ‘neomasculinity’ group Return of Kings has been cancelled because of ‘safety and privacy’ concerns. Ireland was set to be just one of the 43 countries where a meeting was planned to take place, the authorities in Naas were already made aware of the meeting, but the groups leader Daryush ‘Roosh’ Valizadeh has announced via his blog that the plan has been scrapped.

"I can no longer guarantee the safety or privacy of the men who want to attend on 6 February, especially since most of the meetups can not be made private in time. While I can’t stop men who want to continue meeting in private groups, there will be no official Return Of Kings meetup. The listing page has been scrubbed of all locations. I apologise to all the supporters who are let down by my decision", Valizadeh says.

The original announcement was widely condemned by the Irish public as seen by this petition to ban the meeting from ever taking place.

Ireland will not tolerate hate. Return of Kings are not welcome. Naas meetup has been reported to local authorities. #TurnAwayReturnOfKings — Maureen Hanlon (@justalittlemo) February 2, 2016

The original post on the Return of Kings website had instructed hosts of the meetings to wait at a designated meeting point at every location from 8-8.20pm local time on Saturday evening before moving on to the final location. The main entrance of the courthouse had been determined as the meeting point in Naas.

The misogynist ‘neomasculinity’ group has become infamous for a number of misogynistic and highly controversial statements in the past, most notoriously their view that rape should be legal under certain circumstances.