Large Police, Security Presence as Protesters Face Off
The only drag show drama happening April 1 was inside Element 41, where three queens sang and danced for two crowds of brunch-goers.
The only drag show drama happening April 1 was inside Element 41, where three queens sang and danced for two crowds of brunch-goers.
Both the restaurant performances and an afternoon story hour at the Community Church of Chesterland went off with no signs of trouble after weeks of build-up and threats to organizers.
The event drew press from across the country and around the world, with CCC Pastor Jess Peacock telling a reporter from the UK it was important to push back against protests intended to inspire fear and silence people.
“We didn’t intend this to be a cause or a movement, or a social justice thing, but it became that,” Peacock said.
Event organizer Mallory McMaster said she and others were happy to have support in the weeks leading up to the event, including well-wishers who sent flowers to drag queens Veranda L’Ni, Carmen La’Shon, Monica Mod and The Empress Dupree.
“Love is outshining hate in every way,” she said.
Security was ratcheted up at both drag show locations after an Alliance man was arrested March 31 for attempting to burn down the church in opposition to the event.
On March 30, Chardon and Chester Township police departments and the Geauga County Sheriff’s Office asked organizers to cancel the events, but both Peacock and McMaster declined to do so.
The church was not made aware of specific threats, Peacock said, but told Chester police they would monitor the situation and cancel if things got out of hand.
“After we told them that, then they did assure us that they were going to, you know, do everything they could, that they’re going to have their people here,” he said, adding organizers were not aware at the time how many resources law enforcement planned to bring to the area.
“We don’t feel like we got the full details from them … but again, having said that, after we confirmed with them that we’re continuing, it does seem like they are doing the job that law enforcement is supposed to do,” he said.
Although online accounts had earlier shared information the Proud Boys — a far-right extremist group — planned to protest the drag event, they did not show up Saturday in Chardon to protest the 18-and-over event at Element 41.
“This is certainly a much smaller and less aggressive, less intense protest than any of us could have expected,” McMaster said during an interview April 1. “It’s a little pathetic.”
Judgment Day is Coming
With media, police personnel and bystanders milling around, it was not immediately apparent how many supporters were gathered on each side of the issue.
About a dozen showed up to visibly — and vocally — oppose the event, lining up on Chardon Square opposite the restaurant and addressing those in front of the restaurant through an electric megaphone.
Much of the messaging through the megaphone was religious in nature, with calls to prayer and to those attending and supporting the drag shows to turn to the Bible instead.
“Judgment day is coming. And if you die as a homo, you will go to hell,” one protester shouted through the megaphone. “No heaven for you.”
On the sidewalk in front of the restaurant, one woman knelt with her hands raised, singing “Amazing Grace” while the protester spoke.
On the opposite side of the street, about two dozen masked counter-protesters, clad in black with rainbow scarves tied around their arms, gathered behind temporary concrete barriers. The group remained largely silent, occasionally streaming Disney songs, which one counter-protester said would trigger copyright-related shutdowns of any accounts attempting to livestream the protest.
In addition to the megaphone, the late morning and early afternoon peace on Chardon Square was periodically punctuated with car alarms and revving engines.
An array of clergy stood quietly in front of the restaurant, most wearing rainbow colors and several holding signs in support of the drag event.
A small group of protesters affiliated with the white supremacist group Patriot Front marched onto the square at about 11:45 a.m. The 10 members arrived at the same time as predicted high winds, which left two of the white-masked, khaki-wearing squad struggling to support a banner reading “STRONG FAMILIES STRONG NATION.”
The group chanted a few times before departing at about 12:10 p.m., as the wind picked up and a light rain began to fall.
Neither the Patriot Front nor the masked counter-protesters were eager to speak to the media. However, two of those present — one from each side — indicated most in their group were not local residents.
As the weather worsened, some counter-protesters stayed, with nearby lightning strikes not enough to drag them away from the barricades. Others huddled against shop windows on Main Street, while a handful on the opposing side of the street sheltered under the roof of the Heritage House.
Protesters were unable to attend the church story time, as parking at the CCC building was limited only to those with tickets or press passes and private security personnel.
McMaster said she paid for some security expenses in Chardon and private security at the church through her company The Fairmount Group, a firm that specializes in marketing and strategic communications for social justice issues. She will be reimbursed for what she said was about $20,000 in expenses when a current fundraising drive is complete.
McMaster said she believes groups who protested the drag shows should be responsible for the costs to the public, adding supporters of the drag show and story time were asked to stay home and away from the events that day unless they had tickets.
A vigil was held the evening of March 30 on Chardon Square to give supporters a chance to be heard without the risk of violence, McMaster said, adding she requested no police presence for that event.
The police presence on the square April 1 was “textbook,” McMaster said, adding she did not want to see an instance of police being under-prepared for a protest.
“They did a phenomenal job,” she said. “They weren’t just protecting me. They were protecting the entire community from hate groups.”
