A Christian nationalist group that protests drag shows in North Texas is suing another group that aims to defend the performances, after an altercation outside a Fort Worth brewery this spring.
The New Columbia Movement, a group that advocates for the U.S. to be ruled by “Christian morality,” often protests drag shows around North Texas, according to news reports. On the other side is the Elm Fork John Brown Gun Club, a left-wing group that provides armed security at drag shows, wearing black masks, tactical gear and pride flags.
In April, a small group, including members of the New Columbia Movement, protested a drag show at Fort Brewery and Pizza off White Settlement Road. Members of the Elm Fork John Brown Gun Club showed up to counterprotest, according to WFAA. Around 12:50 p.m., counter protester Samuel Fowlkes pepper-sprayed members of the New Columbia Movement, police said.
Now, three members of the New Columbia Movement are suing Fowlkes and the Elm Fork John Brown Gun Club, claiming the club planned a “coordinated attack" that violated their First Amendment right to protest.
“Defendant Elm Fork John Brown Gun Club is a violent extremist group made up of individuals who promote radical ideologies and who seek to intimidate or coerce Texans who hold beliefs at odds with [its] hateful radicalism," the lawsuit states.
(1 of 2) Video of Protest Report #230030255 pic.twitter.com/HAXzEGp6xC
— Fort Worth Police (@fortworthpd) April 24, 2023
Joshua Finecy, Anthony Long and Kyle Randle are the members of the New Columbia Movement who brought the lawsuit. Andrew Keetch and Tim Davis from the law firm Jackson Walker are their attorneys, court documents show. Neither lawyer responded to multiple emails and phone calls seeking comment over two weeks.
The lawsuit argues that the New Columbia Movement has every right to protest “highly sexualized drag performances in which men dress in stereotyped women’s clothing,” and businesses that “lure” children to these performances.
Drag queens and LGBTQ+ advocates have pushed back against the conservative narrative that all drag shows are inherently sexual, and the implication that drag queens are sexual predators and “groomers.” Some drag shows are PG, and others are PG-13, Johnathan Gooch with Equality Texas told KERA in June.
Drag shows draw conservative protests across the country. From early 2022 to April 2023, there were 161 anti-drag protests and threats in the U.S., according to the LGBTQ+ rights organization GLAAD. The Texas Legislature effectively banned some public drag shows this year, a law that’s being challenged in the courts.
In North Texas, the Elm Fork John Brown Gun Club shows up to protect drag shows from potential violence. John Brown Gun Clubs exist across the country, and they’re named after the abolitionist John Brown, who was hanged after he led an unsuccessful raid on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Va. in 1859. Brown’s goal was to arm the enslaved.
Fowlkes, who was arrested for allegedly pepper-spraying people, did not respond to a request for an interview.
The other named defendants in the lawsuit are Benjamin Song, Christopher Guillott and Meghan Grant. Guillott and Grant were also arrested at the Fort Brewery altercation, for charges unrelated to the pepper-spraying. Guillott was charged with assault on a police officer and interference with public duties. Grant was charged with interference with public duties and resisting arrest.
The lawsuit is a way for the New Columbia Movement to advance their ideology, Grant’s attorney, George Lobb, told KERA.
“There are either proto- or outright fascist groups in the state of Texas that don't like drag queens, as they either make them uncomfortable personally or they want to value-project and attack them," Lobb said. “They’re doing this under the guise of saving the children, but the last time I checked, you don't see drag queens in the news getting arrested for molesting children."
The New Columbia Movement wants the U.S. “reborn as a model of Christian society,” according to the group’s online manifesto, which also rejects other religions as “false” and rails against what it calls “unnatural equality” between people.
The lawsuit asks for the court to ban the defendants from being within 200 yards of the New Columbia Movement members, and to issue an order prohibiting Elm Fork John Brown Gun Club members from owning firearms.
Grant is not a member of the Elm Fork John Brown Gun Club, and she had nothing to do with the pepper-spraying, Lobb emphasized.
“She got arrested because she was going over to help someone who was calling for help,” he said.
Fort Worth Police body camera footage shows Grant approaching police and shouting “What does he need a medic for? He’s calling for a medic,” while police push Grant backwards several times. Police then pulled her to the ground and arrested her.
Song’s attorneys did not respond to a request for an interview. Guillott declined a request for a phone interview for this story but provided an emailed statement.
“My inclusion in this lawsuit is unfounded, rooted firmly in the make-believe. In the absence of a boogeyman to blame all their problems on, New Columbia Movement and their benefactors will spare no expense to invent one,” Guillott said. “Time and truth will continue to unveil themselves throughout the course of these proceedings.”
The next court hearing in the case is scheduled for Sept. 19, Lobb said.
Got a tip? Email Miranda Suarez at msuarez@kera.org. You can follow Miranda on Twitter @MirandaRSuarez.
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