Brewery Reveals Threats After Canceling Kyle Rittenhouse Event: 'Crazy'

A Texas brewery CEO says threats have been made against the business after it canceled an upcoming Kyle Rittenhouse event.

Southern Star Brewery CEO Dave Fougeron said the Conroe business had received threats and harassment after it declared on Friday that it would not host the right-wing "Rally Against Censorship" to be held there on January 26.

Fougeron told The Texas Tribune on Saturday: "It's been kind of a *********. But now I'm more certain than ever that I made the right decision."

He added: "Our place is super inclusive. We are super pro-veteran, super pro-law enforcement. We're trying to be good people in the community. We're friends with our firefighters, with our police department.

"We have a lot of gay patrons who come in because it's a place of inclusivity. It's crazy that we're getting threats from people."

The CEO also said he had only been made aware a few days ago that Rittenhouse would be a special guest at the event.

Rittenhouse, known for being acquitted of fatally shooting two people at a 2020 protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, hit out at "the woke crowd" over the cancellation.

The controversial figure has increasingly aligned himself with conservative causes and events following his acquittal, including Turning Point USA in Arizona in 2021.

His tweet read: "It's really disappointing to see that places continue to censor me and not allow my voice and many other voices to be heard because they bend to the woke crowd. I'll keep you guys updated on the event on the 26th that I was supposed to speak at."

Fougeron disputed claims that a "woke crowd" was behind the cancellation and told the publication it was largely due to concerns from patrons.

In a Friday tweet, the brewery said: "No more. Southern Star Brewery is an apolitical organization, but we feel that this event doesn't reflect our own values and we could not in good faith continue to rent our space for the event on 1/26. We don't do rallies, we make beer for people who like beer."

In a Sunday, January 15 statement, Fougeron told Newsweek: "The threats we have received so far have been mostly on our Squarespace account, where people can leave burner or made-up email addresses. Yesterday we were receiving about 50 of these messages per hour. Most of them were just name-calling, but some of them were people wishing us bodily harm and property damage.

"I don't believe any of these threats to be credible at the moment. It is really easy to sling mud anonymously. We have asked our regulars to keep a bit more of a watchful eye on us, but I don't think anyone thinks that they are in any danger. Yesterday's crowd was larger than usual and there were no protestors present.

"We have not reached out to Mr. Rittenhouse as we are not, and never were, affiliated with him or the organization supporting him. We made a business decision based on our paying customers' concerns to deny [the] rental of our facility to this "free speech" rally.

"Since then, the rally organizers have fueled the fire by spreading lies and derogatory statements about us and our company. I find it highly ironic that a so-called free speech organization is trying to cancel us from exercising our rights to free speech.

"In short, I don't even know how to get hold of Mr. Rittenhouse, and it seems like everything I have said to the organization backing him for this rally has been twisted and used against us. If we make contact again with their organization, it will be through legal channels.

"We have not canceled any of our other events and do not plan to unless there is a credible threat. We are a small business and we do not plan to shrink from what we perceive as simply bullying threats.

"I would hope that at some point in time, the organization behind Mr. Rittenhouse is being counter-productive by slandering and perpetuating mistruths against a business that has always been supportive of its community."

Conservative publisher Defiance Press, which organized the event, announced the rally would now be held at the Lone Star Convention Center in Conroe at 6 p.m. on January 26.

Defiance Press claimed Southern Star Brewery had been pressured by its sponsor H-E-B Grocery Stores to drop the event.

David Roberts, the publisher's founder, said in a January 13 news release: "This sudden decision is nothing other than an outrageous display of censorship.

"Up until now, Southern Star Brewery agreed to host this event with full knowledge that Kyle Rittenhouse would be invited and had no problem whatsoever.

"It was not until H-E-B threatened to end their business with them that they decided to pull our event. Clearly, money talks and values walk for Southern Star."

Ticket costs for the event range from free general admission to $500 for the VIP Couple Access offer.

Those who pre-register for VIP access will be offered the chance to "meet Kyle! Pictures, swag, drinks, and food."

Newsweek has contacted Southern Star Brewery, H-E-B Grocery Stores and Defiance Press for comment.