Festival Commentator Praises City Over Lack Of Black People [View all]

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BOISE, Idaho — An event billed as a celebration of “traditional family values” and a counter to Pride Month festivities drew more scrutiny than support in downtown Boise last weekend.

Dubbed the “Hetero Awesomeness Festival,” the gathering was hosted by Mark Fitzpatrick of Eagle and featured speakers including far-right podcaster David Reilly. Despite boasting an $85,000 budget, attendance appeared to peak at just 30 to 40 people at a time.

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What may have attracted more attention than the event itself, though, were comments made by Reilly on his podcast The Backlash, which was set up at the festival. During a segment recorded from the park, Reilly remarked that Boise was a clean city and whispered, “There’s not a lot of Black people.”

Fitzpatrick distanced himself from the remark but stopped short of condemning it.

“I would not have said it. It’s not what I would do. He’s his own person,” Fitzpatrick said. “You have to ask him if he has a justification for what he said, or if he thinks it’s factual, or if he actually prejudges Black people by looking at them already. I don’t know.”

When asked directly if he denounced the comment, Fitzpatrick reiterated, “I would never say what he said... I don’t believe people should be derogatory with the intent to hurt somebody’s feelings... but people have free speech.”




https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/208/its-not-about-black-people-its-about-liberalism-hetero-awesome-fest-organizer-on-racist-comments-idaho/277-2b016977-8fb4-4986-ac77-04366e2df5f0