Right-wing rally advocates to un-censor hate speech
by co-editor Michelle Snider
Portraits of Holocaust survivors gazed towards the steps of San Francisco’s City Hall as an anti-feminism speaker chanted “hate speech is free speech,” and “free speech, not safe spaces,” at the Free Speech rally on May 3.
Energizing the crowd of about 100 with her testimonial as a legal immigrant, Bernadine Barber spoke about her parents, who moved to the U.S. from the Philippines for a better life and rights such as free speech.
The occasion was intended to demand free speech access to social media platforms regardless if the speech is hateful. On the steps of City Hall, participants had access to a microphone, podium and police security. However, the focus of the rally diverged from this intent, as some speakers spent their time at the podium attacking rally protesters.
The rally was scheduled to start at noon, but many people, including two of the speakers, remained across the street antagonizing a group of protesters, causing the event to be delayed for almost an hour.
Will Johnson was one of the speakers. Last year, on March 18, Johnson brought his megaphone to East Oakland. Along with other President Trump supporters, he protested against the local business, Haste Muerte Café, for its recent refusal to serve a police officer, according to Brietbart.com.
“It’s okay to be white,” Johnson chanted on his megaphone before he took his place at the May 3 rally as a designated speaker.
This term is a slogan that appeared on the website 4chan’s messaging board. It serves as a means to cause journalists and “leftist” academics to over-react due to the historically racist origins of white supremacists, according to ABC News Australia. For those who do not know its origins, it is meant to seem harmless and prove there is an over-reaction to the slogan.
One of the headliners, Laura Loomer, did not show up to the rally. Loomer was one of six prominent social media figures, along with InfoWars, that Facebook banned for violating its policies against “dangerous individuals and organizations,” according to CBS News.
Larry Griffin, a Black San Francisco city worker, was observing Johnson surrounded by rally-goers on his way to the podium. A San Francisco native, Griffin chuckled, muttering “oh God,” as Johnson approached him.
Johnson said, “What, MAGA country. You like that?”
While live-streaming on YouTube, Johnson told Griffin that Trump was his president. Griffin laughed and said not for long, referencing the Mueller Report findings.
Talking over Griffin, Johnson said, “no collusion,” which Griffin said angered him. He told Johnson to leave him alone, but Johnson refused to leave as his supporters surrounded Griffin.
One man in a “Make America Great Again” t-shirt told Griffin that CNN should not be his education.
“Black people have been under the thumb of Democrats for a long time,” Johnson said. “You are an example of an old Black man that holds that demographic.”
“How dare you question my Blackness,” Griffin said in response.
Griffin said the rally-goers were unpatriotic. “They claim to be patriots, ‘Make America Great Again’, what is it, 1950?”
Once Johnson made it to the podium to speak, he shouted to the rally attendees “Who’s your president?”
Johnson called the protesters across the street “Anqueefa,” a play on the acronym for the Anti-Fascist movement or “Antifa.” He denied the protesters’ claim that he was a Nazi sympathizer and countered that anti-fascists are Nazis.
“President Trump is doing the best he can for all Americans,” Johnson said. “Thank God we have President Trump in office. It’s just the delusion of the liberals. They have lost their minds.”
Johnson said white men are not the problem in the country — liberalism is the problem. He then told the audience he put “Turbo Force” in his orange juice, an Infowars supplement that claims to give energy.
“I am wired up! Infowars! You know, they banned Alex Jones on all his platforms because they didn’t like what he was saying,” Johnson said.
He ended his speech advising the audience to stand up to the “leftist tyrannical regime.”
Meanwhile, city workers and city park rangers stood guard in front of a Holocaust installation called “Lest We Forget” by German photographer Luigi Toscano. According to The Jewish News of Northern California, the exhibit is an ongoing project in which Holocaust survivors from different cities are photographed and displayed. Of the 80 portraits displayed, 17 are San Francisco residents.
The exhibit will remain on display in front of SF City Hall until May 20.
