SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 26 -- A far-right group known as Patriot Prayer has relinquished the permit for a rally scheduled for Saturday afternoon in San Francisco on the U.S. West Coast.
San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee said in a press release early Saturday that while the Golden Gate National Recreation Area confirmed that Patriot Prayer has cancelled the rally at Crissy Field, the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) and the city's public safety agencies are prepared for contingencies and spontaneous events.
"San Francisco does not welcome outside agitators whose messages of hate have the sole purpose of inciting violence," said Lee, who together with Nancy Pelosi, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, was blamed by the leader of Patriot Prayer for mislabeling the group as promoting white supremacy and hatred.
Joey Gibson, in a Facebook Live broadcast Friday afternoon announcing his decision to call off the "free speech rally," said the event at Crissy Field, a part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, could be "a trap."
"After several conversations with the police and understanding the situation of what's going on, we decided that tomorrow really seems like a setup," Gibson said on Friday, without elaboration. "It doesn't seem safe. A lot of people's lives are going to be in danger tomorrow."
Short of identifying or clarifying its political ideology, Gibson and three other organizers claimed on the social media platform during the broadcast that Patriot Prayer is a multi-ethnic group.
The group is based in Portland, the biggest city of Oregon, a state north of California.
As an opponent of the rally in the wake of the Aug. 12 deadly violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, during an event held by groups on the same side of political spectrum, Lee noted later Friday that "no permits have been requested or issued for Alamo Square this weekend," referring to the plan announced Friday afternoon by Gibson to hold a news conference Saturday at the city's Alamo Square Park.
In his latest statement, the mayor said "SFPD will have an enhanced presence at Alamo Square and in the surrounding neighborhoods."
"I want to reinforce that existing San Francisco law prohibits firearms and weapons in city parks," he said. "Those who seek to commit acts of violence or damage property will be arrested and prosecuted."
The Golden Gate National Recreation Area issued permits for five events at Crissy Field this weekend, including four counter-protests by local groups against Patriot Prayer.
While parallel events are planned to take place at Crissy Field, a major counter-protest is scheduled for Saturday at Civic Center Plaza in front of the historical San Francisco City Hall. Organizers of the counter-protest, called San Francisco Peacefully Unites Against White Nationalists, ask people to stay away from Crissy Field and disengage with members of the far-right group.
On their respective Facebook pages, 456 people say they will be at the Patriot Prayer rally while more than 2,800 others express their willingness to join the Civic Center counter-protest.
On Friday, hours before Gibson went public to cancel his rally, Lee joined dozens of elected officials and community leaders on the steps leading up to the city hall and told several hundred people in the audience that "you all know that some people are coming in tomorrow to our city - you know as well as I do that they have a message that we don't believe in, a message of hate."