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- Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz are in California for their “America First” tour.
- Three Southern California event venues have canceled the event.
- Instead, Greene and Gaetz staged a “peaceful protest for free speech” at Riverside Town Hall.
Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz staged a “peaceful protest for free speech” in Riverside, Calif. On Saturday night after three venues at the event refused to host them.
Republican lawmakers were in Southern California for their “America First” tour. The Pacific Hills Banquet & Event Center, a hotel in Laguna Hills, Calif., Was originally scheduled to host the event, but was canceled a week before when they realized who the speakers were, saying they “just wanted to avoid this “.
The Riverside Convention Center was then asked to host but canceled 24 hours before the event after receiving backlash from the community.
Finally, the Anaheim Event Center in Orange County has canceled its last-minute plan to host the tour stopover due to general safety concerns, city spokesman Mike Lyster told Insider on Saturday. .
Read more: Key Republican women’s fundraising group shuns Reps Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert, calling them “carnival barkers”
Lyster said the city already has several other events going on. “These require public safety attention and resources,” he said. “This event added to that would have strained resources.”
In a statement provided to Insider, Greene’s office said Greene and Gaetz will be holding a protest at Riverside Town Hall at 5 p.m. instead of the scheduled event at one venue.
“Over the past week, I have seen the Communist left in California use threats of violence, intimidation and harassment to intimidate business owners and force them to cancel peaceful rallies of Americans,” he said. Greene said.
She then lambasted the culture of cancellation, saying she had experienced it in Congress and in California, “where the left uses tactics similar to those used by tyrannical governments throughout history who want to totally do silence their political opponents “.
Greene has been a controversial figure since joining Congress in January. She was stripped of her House committee duties in February for posts she posted online promoting conspiracy theories and supporting political violence.
Gaetz also spoke out against the cancellation of the events, Tweeter, “The Woketopians are so scared of a dose of #AmericaFirst in California.”
A Gaetz spokesperson did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
The protest was broadcast live by right-wing media RSBN. Greene and Gaetz arrived shortly after the event started and led the crowd in a “USA” chant.
—Marjorie Taylor Greene (@mtgreenee) July 18, 2021
They each spoke for about five minutes. Greene told the crowd that “the radical left wants to cancel you” but that they and Gaetz “refuse to be canceled because we won’t let you be canceled.”
She also praised the “America First policies” of former President Donald Trump.
Both lawmakers spoke out against canceling their event, with Gaetz declaring “we will not be silenced and we will not be closed”.
“You have proven that they cannot cancel these members of Congress and they cannot cancel this rally and they can never cancel the America First political movement,” he said.
Greene and Gaetz left within 15 minutes of their arrival.
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