There Goes the Neighborhood is a weekly series from Imagine 2050 staff highlighting upcoming nativist events.
This week, anti-Muslim events are scheduled in California, Ohio, and Montana.
Tonight, October 7, Former U.S. Rep. Allen West (R-FL) will speak in San Francisco, California, at a fundraising event for the San Francisco Republican Party. West served one term in Congress before losing his reelection bid in 2012. Both as a Congressman and a private citizen, West has associated with many of the country’s largest anti-Muslim groups including ACT for America and the David Horowitz Freedom Center. West has also been the executive director of the right wing think tank National Center for Policy Analysis since 2014.
In a 2011 reference to the “Coexist” movement and their bumper stickers, West said: “Every time I see one of those bumper stickers, I look at the person inside that is driving. Because that person represents something that would give away our country. Would give away who we are, our rights and freedoms and liberties because they are afraid to stand up and confront that which is the antithesis, anathema of who we are.”
On Saturday, October 8, the Corona, California, chapter of anti-Muslim grassroots group ACT for America will host a screening of anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist Trevor Loudon’s new film, The Enemies Within. Loudon’s film alleges Muslims and Communists have infiltrated the U.S. government, firmly aligning with the so-called “Red-Green Axis” conspiracy theory purported by many anti-Muslim activists and organizations.
On Monday, October 10, the Cleveland chapter of ACT for America will hold a meeting in Broadview Heights, Ohio. The Cleveland ACT chapter has hosted several prominent anti-Muslim speakers in recent months including Philip Haney in August, Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn (Ret.) in July, and James Simpson in June.
On Wednesday, October 12, ACT for America founder Brigitte Gabriel will speak in Beverly Hills, California. Gabriel has given similar presentations this year in Florida, Virginia, and Ohio. The context of Gabriel’s August 4 appearance in Idaho was recently featured in an article by Buzzfeed News. Gabriel is an anti-Muslim zealot who has claimed that a “practicing Muslim, who believes in the teachings of the Koran, cannot be a loyal citizen to the United States of America.”
Read: Meet the Charming, Terrifying Face of the Anti-Islam Lobby (Buzzfeed, September 2016)
On Thursday, October 13, the Flathead County chapter of ACT for America will host anti-Muslim pastor Shahram Hadian in Kalispel, Montana. The Idaho-based Hadian has spoken out against Muslims and refugee resettlement at numerous events in the Pacific Northwest, including an evangelical conference in March. Thursday’s event appears to be just as bigoted. Hadian’s presentation is titled, “Chrislam Exposed: The Seductive Lie of a Common God Between Christianity and Islam.” The Flathead County ACT chapter has been increasingly active this year many notable anti-Muslim speakers in recent months as well. These include ACT National Field Director Kelly Cook in July, Austrian activist Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff in April and an anti-refugee speakers Paul Nachman and Don Barnett in February.
Finally, also on Thursday, October 13, anti-Muslim activist and disgraced former FBI agent John Guandolo will speak to the Nob Hill Republican Women’s Club in San Francisco, California. Guandolo has claimed American Muslims “don’t have a First Amendment right to do anything” and more recently derided Black Lives Matter for supposedly working “in conjunction” with “jihadis” and “Marxist” groups in order to “impose Sharia Islamic law” on America. Despite this blatant bigotry, Gaundolo continually is allowed to provide training to law enforcement—sometimes at significant expense to taxpayers—including recent instances in Virginia and Louisiana.
Additional information on these events and others can be found in the map below. A red star indicates events scheduled for next week.
Know of any nativist events not located on this map? Please contact us or fill out this form: