A right-wing group canceled its San Francisco rally. Counterprotesters showed up anyway.
Organizers of the “Freedom Rally” blamed the cancellation of their event on public officials who they say falsely portrayed them as violent right-wing extremists intent on bringing hate to San Francisco. The event was scheduled Saturday afternoon at Crissy Field, a recreational area near the Golden Gate Bridge.
“It doesn’t seem safe,”*Joey Gibson, founder of*the Oregon-based group*said Friday night on Facebook Live. “The rhetoric from Nancy Pelosi, Mayor [Ed] Lee, the media, all these people are saying that we’re white supremacists and is bringing tons of extremists … We have a lot of respect for the citizens of San Francisco, and at the end of the day we want people to be safe.”
After canceling the Crissy Field event, Gibson said his group planned to hold a news conference Saturday afternoon at Alamo Square Park to “talk about some of the rhetoric in San Francisco.” But*the city, suspicious of the group’s intentions, on Saturday morning built fences around the park, CBS affiliate KCBS reported. Gibson then wrote on Facebook he will hold an “indoor news conference” and show up at “random spots” in the city to talk to residents.
Tensions between Gibson’s group and city officials have been brewing over the past several days. Mayor Ed Lee on Wednesday condemned the decision by the National Park Service, which controls Crissy Field, to grant Gibson’s group a permit.
Lee, Police Chief Bill Scott and Board of Supervisors President London Breed had written a letter expressing outrage over the Park Service’s decision to allow the rally and urging officials to make sure that security measures were in*place. Breed said last week groups like Patriot Prayer “are not welcome” in San Francisco,*KCBS reported.
“San Francisco has a long and storied history of championing freedom of speech and First Amendment rights, but as we have witnesses in recent months, these types of rallies can quickly turn hateful and violent with tragic consequences,” the letter said, according to KCBS.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)*said in a statement Wednesday*she had “grave concerns about the public safety hazard” tied with the “white supremacist rally.”*In a letter last week*to Park Service officials, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said*the rally “poses very real threats to the public should the protest devolve into racial violence and clashes with law enforcement.”
In a statement Friday, Lee confirmed Patriot Prayer has relinquished its rally permit, but he said law enforcement officials are prepared for “any contingencies and spontaneous events.”
Lee, Police Chief Bill Scott and Board of Supervisors President London Breed had written a letter expressing outrage over the Park Service’s decision to allow the rally and urging officials to make sure that security measures were in*place. Breed said last week groups like Patriot Prayer “are not welcome” in San Francisco,*KCBS reported.
Recently, however, Gibson has tried to*distance himself and his group from extremists. He openly denounced white supremacists and neo-Nazis at his rally in Seattle on Aug. 13.
Across the bay, an anti-Marxism rally scheduled for Sunday at Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park in Berkeley, Calif., was also canceled.*The event was never granted a permit.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...d-for-violence-anyway/?utm_term=.42d8fb5571fd
