A Message from Dave Millage, Chair of Scott County Republicans
The Scott County Republicans would like to state once again that neither they, nor the Scott County Teenage Republicans, nor the Pleasant View Baptist Church support the comments made by Nick Fuentes at Monday evening’s Immigration Forum.
Upon investigation into this issue it has been learned that a co-organizer of the event, Michael Sisco, who is not a member of the Scott County Republicans, the Scott County Teenage Republicans, or the Pleasant View Baptist Church, secretly contacted Mr. Fuentes to speak at the event. In an interview with the QC Times, Mr. Sisco admitted that it was he, and he alone who arranged for Mr. Fuentes to arrive at the venue, usher him through a rear door, and keep him out of sight in the basement of the church unbeknownst to any members of the Scott County Republicans, the Scott County Teenage Republicans, or the staff at Pleasant View Baptist Church. Mr. Fuentes, was not an invited guest and was not listed on any promotional material to be a guest speaker. In fact, almost all of the people in attendance had never heard of Mr. Fuentes and had no knowledge of his radical views.
Further investigation has determined that there is a group known as “Groypers” that is led by Mr. Fuentes, who fuse online political extremism with stunts at Conservative events. NBC News posted an article on their website about this group on November 12, 2019 and it appears that Monday evening’s forum was a target of one of their stunts. The link to the article can be found here.
The fallout and sad result of this story is that it has been blown out of proportion and the main focus of the forum, which is the Angel Families and the suffering with which they have had to endure as victims of criminal illegal immigrants, has been hijacked by a news story and an attempt to identify the organizations listed above as white supremacists groups. This “label” could not be farther from the truth. The words spoken by one individual do not reflect or represent the core values and views of the Scott County Republicans, the Scott County Teenage Republicans, or the Pleasant View Baptist Church.
All organizations, but especially the Pleasant View Baptist Church, have been unfairly targeted and the church simply provided a venue to hold the forum. Church leaders were as blindsided by the speech given by Mr. Fuentes as were the primary organizers of the event. Members of each organization have received death threats and harassment, even from adults in positions of authority and who should know better. Too many people will react to incomplete or misleading information without first getting the facts. Shame on them!
The QC Times has ignited the fire with their coverage of the event and continued to fan the flames with their consecutive coverage. How did we get to a time and place in American society where the political environment has become so toxic that common decency has been tossed out the window? The vitriol being heaped upon members of these organizations, especially the teenage children, is ridiculous and totally disgusting.
I would like to remind everyone again that the true focus of this forum was to hear the stories from the Angel Families and how their lives have been forever changed. I commend WQAD for their news coverage as it accurately represented the intent of the event. I am asking those promoting the death threats and harassment to stop and ask yourself if you would like to be treated in the same way. No matter which side of the political aisle with which you align there may be someone, somewhere on your side who also does not reflect your views. Would you like to be lumped into a single category with this person and receive undue backlash, especially without having the facts? I suspect the answer would be “No”.
Sincerely,
Dave Millage, Chair
Scott County Republicans
