Just don’t call it Vegas.
The petition, launched earlier this month by the group Faithful America, asks officials to cancel plans to host the “Reawaken America Tour,” which will feature conservative figures like Michael Flynn and Donald Trump‘s son, Eric. As Newsweek points out, critics say the tour endorses right-wing conspiracy theories and “Christian nationalism.” Also appearing at the rally, which is scheduled to take place Aug. 25 at Craig Ranch Regional Park in North Las Vegas, will be Alex Jones and comedian Roseanne Barr. Organizer say they expect around 5,000 people to attend.
According to Faithful America — which is a progressive Christian organization — the rally is “one of the worst examples of Christian nationalism today,” and claims the event promotes “antisemitism” and “political violence.”
The petition reads: “Each ReAwaken America event is a toxic, two-day parade of pro-Trump preachers, MAGA celebrities, and QAnon conspiracy theorists mixing election denial, violent rhetoric, and deadly COVID-19 misinformation with baptisms and praise music—all in Jesus’s name for audiences of thousands. An event that promotes antisemitism, lies, and even outright political violence should never be welcome on public property. Let’s speak out together now and ask North Las Vegas Mayor Pamela Goynes-Brown to revoke ReAwaken America’s permits and decline to rent them public facilities.”
The group said “toxic nationalism” has “no place in a publicly owned venue,” and that the First Amendment “does not protect the incitement of political violence” or “obligate taxpayers to platform hate speech like antisemitism.”
In a statement reported by KLAS, city officials defended allowing the event to take place, writing that the event is a third-party rental for public space and that permits are “based on content-neutral and equal opportunity criteria.”
“As long as permit criteria and requirements are met, the City of North Las Vegas does not discriminate against those wishing to lawfully assemble,” the statement reads. “As a government agency, the City of North Las Vegas has an obligation to uphold the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and ensure that all citizens, popular or not, majority or minority, conventional or unconventional, have access to public spaces for public expression.”
The conferences have previously made headlines for its speakers’ controversial remarks. In October, one speaker, Bo Polny, warned that the “angel of death” would be “coming for” several politicians, including President Joe Biden and Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican. Meanwhile, concerns that the conference would draw white supremacists prompted a venue in Rochester, New York, to cancel the event last July.
Other past speakers on the tour include Joey Gilbert, a Reno attorney who ran for governor in 2022; Stella Immanuel, (Demon Sperm) a discredited doctor who backed the unproven hydroxychloroquine treatment for COVID-19; Simone Gold, fresh out of prison for her part in the Trump Jan 6 riot; Owen Shroyer, who pled guilty to unlawfully entering the Capitol grounds on Jan. 6; lawyer Sidney Powell, who was at the forefront of Trump’s false claims of election fraud; and presidential candidate and all-around knuckle head, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who pushed anti-vaccine misinformation.. then lied to congress that he did.
