CFACT’s National Grassroots Coordinator Tom DeWeese traveled to Mathews County, Virginia to address local “sustainable” policies being debated and call on freedom activists to oppose them. Earlier, DeWeese had been invited to serve as a knowledgeable speaker at the hearing by one of the members of the planning board. But the Chairman opposed the invitation, citing reports about DeWeese by the far-Left Southern Poverty law Center (SPLC) of DeWeese being a conservative rabble rouser who delivers misinformation.
The public event on the 10th was co-sponsored by groups which included the Mathews County Republican Club and the MidPen Breakfast Club. Some 80 citizens attended – including several local officials on both the planning board and the County Board of Supervisors. Also in attendance was the planning board chairman, who had spoken out against his appearance.
CFACT’s Tom DeWeese speaks out against local sustainability measures at meeting in Mathews County, Virginia.
DeWeese took full advantage of the situation, beginning his address by noting that many in attendance “Have been warned that I am a dangerous hate-monger and conspiracy theorist intent on spreading lies about local policies.” DeWeese pointed out that, “One of the main sources of these charges against me comes from the Southern Poverty Law Center, which has issued four separate reports on me…Yep, if I speak openly in opposition to policies supported by the SPLC then it’s hate speech advocating violence. I admit it’s “hate speech” of a sort because they hate it when I say it!
DeWeese went on to read from an article he had written in 1997, which he said caused the SPLC to target him. In the article, he wrote… “If you embrace the new world being created for you… then it’s your duty to also understand the consequences of your actions. You need to understand that in your brave new world you will be denied the option of self-defense or protecting your children. You will condemn the elderly and the infirm to do without air conditioning. You will not own a single-family home.
Transportation will not be readily available. Perhaps the opportunity to visit relatives on the other side of the country will be denied as airplanes become an environmental hazard.” DeWeese finished the quote by saying, “Every one of those things I warned about in 1997 is happening today.”
DeWeese went on the address the growing threats from the World Economic Forum’s “Great Reset” and discussed how Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) are bringing about these policies into local government through the use of federal grants.
DeWeese warned the audience to “Read the grants thoroughly before accepting them for local programs because many come with other agendas hidden in them, forcing compliance.”
Prior to the meeting, DeWeese had been warned that several members of the local government have already relied upon the American Planning Association (APA) as being a dependable resource for planning projects. So, in his presentation, DeWeese addressed the APA and its affiliation with the Planners Network and its Statement of Principles, which says, “We believed planning should be a tool for allocating resources…and eliminating the great inequalities of wealth and power in our society because the free market has proven incapable of doing this.” DeWeese pointed out that this principle matches the Great Reset and its attacks on free enterprise. During his remarks, DeWeese noted, “the present-day crew of planners draws no line between public and private property, believing that land-use control should be vested in government and that public planners should have the sole right to control the use of all land.”
DeWeese finished by appealing to the audience to get involved at the grassroots level and demand that their local government make it a priority to protect private property rights above all else. “We must change the debate. Get on the offense. Don’t just defend freedom – make it the bottom line for every policy,” DeWeese concluded, “Protection of private property is the key to stopping ‘sustainable’ policies. No leftist sustainable development policy can be imposed without, in some fashion, destroying private property rights.”