Planned pro-Trump march will be moved away from O.C. fairgrounds
Organizers of a planned march to show support for President Trump have decided to move it away from the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa.
In a post on the event’s Facebook page, organizers said they will stage the March 25 Make America Great Again March elsewhere in Orange County, though they didn’t reveal where.
The post states that organizers were “uninvited to march” near the fairgrounds “by an organization that had previously agreed to partner with us.”
A representative of the event declined to elaborate during a Facebook message exchange Monday afternoon.
“Our focus continues to be not what happened but what is going to happen,” the representative wrote.
March organizers, the representative said, are looking forward to putting on the march “at a new location to be disclosed soon.”
In anticipation of the demonstration, fairgrounds officials announced last week that they would close the facility March 25 and 26 and cancel events scheduled for that weekend, including the Orange County Wine Society’s Wine Extraordinaire, the Crossroads of the West Gun Show and the Orange County Market Place swap meet.
“We were saddened to hear that the O.C. [fairgrounds] has canceled all activities scheduled for that weekend due to the conflict,” according to a statement on the march’s Facebook page. “We do hope they decide to keep things as scheduled, regardless of our absence.”
Officials cited public safety as the rationale for closing the fairgrounds those days.
“There are still concerns about the event, even if the location has been moved, because it’s been promoted as taking place near the fairgrounds,” Fair & Event Center spokeswoman Terry Moore said in an email Monday. “In the interest of public safety, there are no plans to reinstate the events or open the fairgrounds March 25-26.”
A Trump campaign rally at the fairgrounds’ Pacific Amphitheatre in April attracted thousands of his supporters and drew hundreds of protesters who blocked traffic and damaged several police vehicles during a demonstration that lasted hours beyond Trump’s speech. Seventeen people were arrested.
The incident prompted the Fair & Event Center to adopt a new policy outlining how to better manage high-profile or high-risk events in the future.
Other Make America Great Again marches are planned throughout the country on March 25. Organizers say the events are meant to show support for Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, the military and first responders.
Twitter: @LukeMMoney
