The Democratic Caucus of the Monroe County Legislature is deeply disturbed by the “Reawaken America Tour” stop scheduled at the Main Street Armory in Rochester in August.
This tour features speakers who support extremism, including QAnon conspiracy theories, Christian nationalism, the Big Lie, violent insurrection, attacks on LGTBQ rights, and anti-vaccine falsehoods. The tour promotes exactly the hateful rhetoric that has been used by mass murderers to justify heinous attacks on innocent people – most recently against our neighbors in Buffalo.
“Hate has no home in Rochester. It’s outrageous and offensive for this tour to come to a Black and Brown neighborhood. We urge the owner of the Main Street Armory to cancel this booking for the safety and well-being of the community,” said Legislator Mercedes Vazquez Simmons, who represents the neighborhood near the Armory.
“We support free speech. We do not support hate speech. The Main Street Armory is under no obligation to host extremists. We ask Scott Donaldson to put the Reawaken America Tour to sleep in Rochester,” said Minority Leader Yversha Roman.
We would like to see the Republican Caucus similarly repudiate this event, as this kind of dangerous and extremist rhetoric has sadly become all-too mainstream in American political discourse.