Racists cancel San Francisco rally

The racist bigots planning to rally in San Francisco's Crissy Field have cancelled their event, citing fear of violence and the fact that they'd be far out-numbered.

Joey Gibson, the rally's organizer and the founder of the conservative group Patriot Prayer, said that he believed that "tons of extremists" would be coming to his event and that it could become dangerous.

"We're not going to have a rally at Crissy Field," Gibson said in a Facebook Live broadcast. "It doesn't seem safe. A lot of people's lives are going to be in danger tomorrow."

Another rally in Berkeley on Sunday will go on, Gibson said, citing a conversation he had with Amber Cummings, the organizer of that event. "We're excited to go into Berkeley. We're going to put our effort and our resources into Berkeley," Gibson said.

He blamed politicians like House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee for characterizing the San Francisco rally as a white nationalist event, which he said would attract people with extreme views.

"After several conversations with the police and understanding the situation of what's going on, we've decided that tomorrow really seems like a setup," Gibson said. "We decided to go ahead and take the opportunity to not fall into that trap."

And some protesters could still show up at Crissy Field on Saturday even with the official event called off.

The "free speech" rally had attracted a broad backlash from residents and local leaders since deadly violence broke out at a white nationalist protest in Charlottesville, Virginia earlier this month. While organizers with the Portland-based Patriot Prayer insisted they denounced white supremacy, past events organized by the group have attracted neo-Nazis and devolved into violence.

The organizers said they would hold a news conference Saturday at 2 p.m. in San Francisco's Alamo Park and that they wouldn't talk more about their reasons for canceling the event until then.

Via the Mercury NewsGo home, bigots.