Cary sports bar cancels another GOP group meeting, aims to avoid politics
The Wake County Republican Party says it is being bullied after a Cary sports bar canceled a group meeting.
Last week, RallyPoint Sport Grill canceled the meeting of the Republican Liberty Caucus. The small group that met monthly at the bar had invited a guest speaker to talk about the far-right Proud Boys, which the Southern Poverty Law Center calls a hate group, at its August meeting.
That Libertarian Republican group is not affiliated with the Wake County Republican Party. However, after the Liberty Caucus meeting was canceled, the Western Wake Republican Club, which also meets monthly at RallyPoint, was told it was no longer allowed to meet there, either.
Renee Miller, president of the Western Wake Republican Club, said she received an email from RallyPoint last week telling her the club and other political groups would no longer be allowed to meet at the bar. She went there in person on Friday and said she had an amicable discussion with the bar operator, and RallyPoint agreed to direct club members to a new meeting location. Miller said they will meet at IHOP in Cary instead.
She said club members are disappointed that they have to change locations after five years.
“Obviously it’s a loss to us, but I think it’s also a loss to the community at large. If [restaurants] are unavailable for civil discourse, I wonder how we’ll ever solve our problems,” Miller said.
‘Safe and inclusive space’ at RallyPoint
A man who identified himself as a RallyPoint manager but did not want to give his name on the phone Monday confirmed the cancellation. When asked for comment about canceling the Western Wake Republican Club meetings, he said they “have nothing else to say.”
In a Facebook post on July 24, a few days after canceling the Liberty Caucus meeting, RallyPoint management wrote that they “would like our community to know that RallyPoint Sport Grill aims to provide a safe and inclusive space for all people in Cary and beyond. That is why we unequivocally denounce the agenda of any group that practices discriminatory behavior.”
“We did not consent to serve as the host venue for any organization that discriminates, and upon learning of such, we voiced that we are not permitting this type of behavior to take place in our space. We take full responsibility for neglecting to conduct the research necessary to avoid this situation in the first place. Free speech is a right that we all should take seriously and there is a time and a place for it. We believe that time is not at our place over a pint, a burger, or a ball game.”
“We are a sports bar where people should feel safe to come and cheer together for their favorite teams and leave the stresses of everyday life outside our doors,” the bar posted.
“We are grateful to our patrons and neighbors who brought this to our attention. We believe that this decision will foster a stronger community that affirms the value and human dignity in all people,” RallyPoint management wrote. It was signed “Denise, owner/operator.”
The post has 91 comments as of Monday morning, both critical and complimentary. The bar responded with thank yous for those who posted their support for RallyPoint.
‘We respect their right to make this decision’
Wake County Republican Party Chairman Darren Eustance said in a phone interview Monday that they were disappointed Western Wake Republican Club’s meetings at RallyPoint were canceled after five years of meeting there.
Eustance said they were told the sports bar decided they would “cancel all political events, and unfortunately that included Western Wake.” He said it is one of 10 Wake County Republican clubs.
Eustance noted that RallyPoint is a private business on private property.
“We respect their right to make this decision. Obviously, we wish they had not made this decision. I don’t think it’s a good idea to ... restrict somebody’s free speech, especially when Western Wake did nothing wrong. They had nothing to do with this controversy,” Eustance said.
The day RallyPoint canceled the Liberty Caucus meeting about Proud Boys, the activist group Defend UNC, a Chapel Hill group involved in Silent Sam protests, posted information about the event, calling Proud Boys a “fascist street gang” and asking people to ask RallyPoint to cancel the event. Defend UNC later posted, after the cancellation, “Great work, all! Thank you for keeping our communities free of fascism.”
In a statement sent out on Sunday, the Wake County Republican Party said RallyPoint “gave in to the bullies.”
This story was originally published July 29, 2019 at 2:04 PM.
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