Posted on: July 7, 2023, 10:39h.
Last updated on: July 7, 2023, 11:43h.
A two-day Christian nationalist conference in North Las Vegas next month will feature conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and 50 other right-wing speakers, including comedian Roseanne Barr. The “ReAwaken America Tour” is expected to gather 5,000 people at Craig Ranch Regional Park on August 25 and 26.
The event is part of a national tour launched in April 2021 by Oklahoma businessman Clay Clark and Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser pardoned by President Donald Trump after he pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his conversations with a Russian diplomat.
On previous “ReAwaken America Tour” stops, speakers have espoused QAnon and other conspiracies, particularly about the 2020 presidential election, and made derogatory comments about gay and transgender people in the name of God and Jesus Christ.
Jones, the conspiracy theorist known for his Infowars website, has previously claimed that the Oct. 1, 2017, Route 91 Harvest festival where 60 people were murdered in the deadliest mass shooting in American history was scripted by “Democrats and their Islamic allies.”
Debate ReAwakened
The city’s decision to lease out its amphitheater for the 14-hour event has sparked social-media outrage and reawakened the debate over freedom of speech versus the government’s responsibility to not allow hate speech.
“Allowing this type of hate mongering in a public space is abhorrent,” tweeted @marcmcdermont1.
Added Twitter user @Weed702: “It is said that North Las Vegas is going to be a breeding ground for hate.”
The City of North Las Vegas issued a statement late Thursday night. It explained that “permits for rentals are based on content-neutral and equal opportunity criteria” and that the city “does not discriminate against those wishing to lawfully assemble.”
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.”
For tickets and information about the ReAwaken America Tour, visit thrivetimeshow.com.
