All Out to Oppose Joey Gibson: An Antifascist Call to Action

“What began as an ill conceived attempt to kick start right wing organizing under the guise of a legitimate rally has morphed into an event in which Kaitlin Bennett is openly celebrating the attendance of armed white nationalists.”

Cleveland Anti-Fascist Network

By now, many antifascists throughout the Midwest have been alerted to the fact that far-right Patriot Prayer organizer Joey Gibson has been asked to speak at an Open Carry rally on Saturday September 29th at Kent State University in Northeast Ohio, about an hour from Cleveland.

Gibson has previously called for his adherents to join him in missions of “cleansing the streets” of the signifiers of liberal and multicultural society. His rallies also serve as an open recruiting ground for militant fascist & neo-fascist groups such as Identity Europa, the Traditionalist Workers Party, and the Proud Boys.

Over the past week Kaitlin Bennett decided to cancel the event, but this is not the victory that it seems.  She has decided that instead of facilitating a dangerous rally catering to the far right, under the auspices of a gun rights rally, that they would gather and walk around campus openly brandishing firearms.

Even though she claims that the speakers have been canceled, rumors are circulating that Joey Gibson and others still intend on attending an event who’s only purpose seems to be to openly intimidate the student body at Kent State.  Other, more overtly white nationalist groups, like the American Guard are planning to attend, with the full support of Kaitlin Bennett.

For more information on the American Guard please see below:

https://www.adl.org/blog/behind-the-american-guard-hardcore-white-supremacists

What began as an ill conceived attempt to kick start right wing organizing under the guise of a legitimate rally has morphed into an event in which Kaitlin Bennett is openly celebrating the attendance of armed white nationalists.  The guise of legitimacy has been destroyed, and she is now showing this event for what it always was; an attempt to imtimidate, harrass and provoke the students of Kent State.

Organizations have called for a counter-demonstration, opposing fascist and racist participation in this event supporting the Kent community as they address this threat to their safety. We would like to echo this call to action, asking for a robust bloc of antifascists to assemble who are willing to defend our community and the physical safety of those gathering to protest this event. We do not want to engage in action that endangers ourselves or people in our community, including people assembling in support of their second amendment rights, but we recognize the need for the presence if antifascists throughout the Midwest to turn away fascists who hope to use this as a space to further their goals of racial violence, extreme nationalism, and militant white supremacy.

Saturday, September 29
Risman Plaza
Kent State University
1-5

Call the Kent State Department of Student Affairs at 330-672-4050 or email at [email protected] and let them know about the threat this event poses to Kent students and the wider community as a whole.

Together we can defend our communities from the scourge of white supremacy!