A federal judge on Friday allowed a lawsuit by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) against two California cities that canceled rallies in 2021.
In a 22-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Hernan Vera wrote that there is sufficient evidence to suggest that Republican lawmakers have a legitimate claim against officials in Anaheim and Riverside, Calif., who canceled events. He said there is. But the judge accused the two flamers of conspiring with the city to violate free speech rights by a small group of liberal nonprofits.
According to the judge, the lawsuit had “numerous fatal flaws.” “The main point is the total lack of alleged facts supporting the ‘meeting of the minds’ required for a conspiracy claim.”
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Congressman Matt Gaetz is seen wearing a Laken Riley pin at the Capitol in Washington, DC, ahead of the President’s State of the Union Address on March 7, 2024. (Aaron Schwartz/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Gaetz and Greene had planned America First rallies in Anaheim and Riverside in 2021, but faced pressure from activist groups and local government officials and canceled the events at both venues in both cities. The lawsuit, filed last year, alleges that the city violated the First Amendment rights of private venues by forcing them to cancel gatherings, including by threatening to revoke a venue’s permit. ing.
Republican lawmakers filed the lawsuit along with the funding committee. They are asking the court to issue an injunction prohibiting cities from “compelling private venues to enter into facility use agreements with plaintiffs for future political gatherings.” It also sought damages for mental suffering.
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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) speaks to reporters outside the U.S. Capitol during a vote on TikTok legislation on March 13, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
“This ruling allows plaintiffs to sue California’s liberal city government for attempting to violate the First Amendment by restricting free speech,” Gaetz said on Friday. After presenting his opinion, he spoke to FOX News Digital.
But the judge rejected the plaintiffs’ collusion claims against nine civil rights organizations, including the NAACP, League of Women Voters, and LULAC, saying they were “completely devoid of any specificity that would plausibly allege such an agreement.” did.
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Gaetz and Greene are two of former President Trump’s most ardent supporters in Congress. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
“The weight of Plaintiffs’ claims against nonprofit defendants is, legally and literally, a conspiracy theory based purely on speculation,” wrote Vera, an appointee of President Biden.
“And absent an illegal conspiracy, all that remains against the nonprofit defendants is a discreet claim that they have exercised their rights,” the judge continued. Own First Amendment right to lobby for cancellation of event. It’s protected. ”
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Mr. Berra said Mr. Gaetz and Mr. Green cannot claim that their First Amendment rights were violated by an activist group of civilians seeking to cancel the event. In fact, the judge accused Republican lawmakers of trying to “score a political settlement against these citizen groups” by first filing an “unprecedented and shockingly inadequate petition.”
”[H]Suing nine civil rights groups in federal court for speaking out against an event should have a similar impact on members of the public across the political spectrum. ”
Fox News Digital’s Patrick Hauf contributed to this report.
