Nonprofit plans to protest True Texas Project’s conference at Fort Worth Botanic Garden
A national grassroots nonprofit is planning to protest True Texas Project’s 15th birthday party on Saturday at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden.
Defense of Democracy, which calls itself a national nonprofit grassroots organization, announced Monday it plans a peaceful protest.
The release said the group will be “protesting Fort Worth’s decision to force the Botanic Garden to host a True Texas Project event after they attempted to cancel.”
The release also said there is a likelihood that other groups will protest.
“We have word that other groups are planning to come protest, but we are not affiliated with them. Our protest is highly organized, and will be a peaceful one to respect the staff at Botanic Garden,” the news release from Defense of Democracy said.
True Texas Project’s birthday party and conference has received statewide attention.
A Texas Tribune story on the events agenda — which said there is a “war on white America” — caused multiple speakers to cancel and renounce the event, while others doubled down on support for True Texas Project.
The agenda included sessions on “Multiculturalism & The War On White America” and “Great Replacement Theory.”
The Botanic Garden said on social media — the same day the Tribune story published — that it would not host the event, but the city told the garden that it must host the event because of free speech.
Defense of Democracy also released a letter it wrote to Fort Worth mayor Mattie Parker.
“We are writing to express our concerns regarding the recent decision to allow the True Texas Project (TTP) to hold its ‘15 Years Strong Conference and Party’ at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden,” the letter to Parker said. “As residents of Fort Worth, we are deeply troubled by the implications of this decision, particularly in light of its violation of the City of Fort Worth Park and Recreation Department’s Community Center Policies & Procedures.”
A spokesperson for the mayor did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The city is upholding the First Amendment, as it is required to do by law, city communication’s director Reyne Telles said in a text message to the Star-Telegram.
‘Allowing differing perspectives to speak at our government properties should not be confused with the City supporting the viewpoint of the speaker,” Telles said.
Also, the Mayor and city have seen an uptick in outreach from residents on this event and is working on a more robust public response, he added.
“The True Texas Project has been associated with rhetoric and actions that we understand to be discriminatory and hateful against protected classes of individuals,” the letter went on to say. “Allowing such an organization to use a public space not only contradicts the stated policies but also sends a concerning message about our city’s commitment to diversity and equality.”
True Texas Project was formerly the NE Tarrant Tea Party formed in 2009. It was added to the the Southern Poverty Law Center’s national list of extremist groups in 2022.
Staff writer Harrison Mantas contributed to this report
This story was originally published July 8, 2024 at 4:15 PM.
.jpg)