BATAVIA – A right-wing roadshow featuring unabashed support for former President Donald Trump and disdain for public-health mandates rolled into this Genesee County town Friday, and thousands gathered under a white tent at a Christian church to hear how they can take back their country.
It was the beginning of the two-day stop on the ReAwaken America Tour, a controversial event featuring speakers who spread falsehoods about the 2020 presidential election and the Covid-19 vaccine that was moved to the Cornerstone Church in Batavia after protests drove it from its planned stop in Rochester.
An event featuring pro-Trump, anti-vaccine speakers that kicks off Friday in Genesee County is running into the same opposition that drove the tour out of its scheduled stop in Rochester.
More than 3,000 people were expected at the tour stop, its first in the Northeast, to hear scheduled speakers such as former Trump National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, presidential son Eric Trump and other prominent conservatives.
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"It's not hateful," said Kathy Nolan, a retiree from Angola, who attended with her husband, Thomas, addressing criticism of the event's message. "We're just simply standing up for what America used to be."
No one protested outside the church as of late Friday morning, but 2 1/2 miles away, at the First Baptist Church of Batavia, a group of religious leaders decried divisive rhetoric and conspiracy theories employed by ReAwaken America speakers. They said participants twisted their faith for political purposes and forgot Christianity is a religion based on love, inclusion and empathy.
"Our hearts are broken because of the damage this tour, this ReAwaken America Tour, has already caused around the country using the cover of religion," said the Rev. Roula Alkhouri, pastor of Batavia First Presbyterian Church.
The Rev. Roula Alkhouri, pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Batavia, speaks at a news conference Friday held by faith leaders who oppose the tour’s message.
Batavia is the 18th stop on the ReAwaken America Tour, launched in April 2021 by Oklahoma businessman and podcast host Clay Clark as a conservative Christian platform for unsubstantiated claims about the Covid-19 vaccine, pandemic safety measures and the integrity of the 2020 election.
The tour stop taking place Friday and Saturday in Batavia initially was booked at the Main Street Armory in Rochester before protests prompted the venue owner in July to cancel the appearance.
Cornerstone Pastor Paul Doyle agreed to host the event and didn't change his mind in the face of pleas from Genesee County faith leaders, progressives and other community members.
By 9:30 a.m. Friday, a field next to the church converted to a makeshift parking lot was filled with rows of vehicles, many adorned with American flags.
Vendors peddled Trump apparel, alternative medical treatments and conservative children's books.
Patrons decked out in red, white and blue moved smoothly through the check-in and security lines. Hats and shirts displayed messages such as "Trump 2024: Take America Back"; "Alex Jones Was Right," a reference to the alt-right Infowars host recently ordered to pay millions of dollars in damages for spreading lies about the Sandy Hook massacre; and "I'm Not One of the Sheep."
Jennifer Shanley, who works at a law firm in Albany, said she came "to be with people who are like-minded, who have the same values as us, and to realize we're not alone in this fight to save our country."
In interviews, Shanley, the Nolans and other attendees insisted President Biden did not win a fairly conducted election – no evidence has emerged to support this view – and they had more to fear from the Covid-19 vaccine than from the virus itself.
Jennifer Shanley, who works at a law firm in the Albany area, speaks at the ReAwaken America Tour stop at the Cornerstone Church in Batavia on Friday.
"I think they've blown it way out of proportion," said Stacy Sadlowski, a third-grade teacher from Ava, N.Y., near Rome, referring to Covid-19. "I think it was a pre-planned scam-demic."
Inside the revival tent, Flynn ended his remarks by urging attendees to "speak up" and "get involved."
He gave way to the Rev. Mark Burns, founder of a church and Christian television network based in South Carolina, who warned of the forces doing "whatever they can" to stop Trump from seeking the presidency again.
He then spoke about state Attorney General Letitia James, who earlier sent a letter to tour organizers raising concerns the event could encourage racially motivated violence.
"We've got to pray for her," he said. "We've got to get her saved."
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The Rev. Roula Alkhouri, pastor of Batavia First Presbyterian Church, who has helped organize opposition to the ReAwaken America Tour stop among local faith leaders, speaks Friday at a news conference held several miles from the site of the event.
Burns' sermon mixing religion and politics was an example of what faith leaders from various denominations objected to during their news conference about 2 1/2 miles from the Cornerstone Church.
They further decried the idea that America must be "taken back" or reshaped as a conservative Christian country, a view deemed "Christian Nationalism."
"We resist the twisted beliefs and self-serving bastardization of the Bible that its proponents embrace," said the Rev. Dr. Shiela Campbell McCullough, a Batavia resident, prison chaplain and member of the New York State Council of Churches, which opposed the tour stop.
Several speakers pointed out the wild vaccine conspiracy theories some ReAwaken America speakers spread; the ties between some tour participants and the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol; and their use of language embraced by white supremacists.
"We are raising our voices loud and clear to say this is not our America. This is not the America in which we believe and for which we will continue to dream," said Rabbi Drorah O’Donnell Setel of Temple Emanu-El in Rochester, who is a Buffalo native.