Monday, November 18, 2019

Black Guns Matter founder quits Libertarian Party

Maj Toure exits the Libertarian Party in controversy after a failed bid for City Council | Clout - Chris Brennan and Andrew Seidman, Philadelphia Inquirer:

November 15, 2019 - "Maj Toure, the Libertarian Party candidate in last week’s election for a City Council at-large seat ... took less than half of 1% of the more than 1.3 million votes cast by 304,500 Philadelphians for 18 candidates in the race. Now Toure, 39, has broken up with the Libertarian Party, where he was seen as a rising star, thanks to his Second Amendment advocacy through 'Black Guns Matter,' a group he founded in 2016....

"Toure was scheduled to be the party’s keynote speaker at its national presidential nomination convention in Texas in May. That spotlight was revoked Wednesday after a political mess that started on and is still playing out across social media.

"Libertarian Party Chairman Nicholas Sarwark said Toure became 'more and more controversial' during his Council campaign and finally 'devolved into a lot of inappropriate name-calling' with a prospective donor to the party. Still, Sarwark said, he had hoped Toure would remain a Libertarian after joining the party last year.

"Daniel Hayes, the Libertarian official who revoked Toure’s invitation, praised his Second Amendment advocacy and donated to his Council campaign. Hayes pointed to tweets from Toure that were seen by some party members as transphobic and anti-immigrant. 'It’s social media silliness,' Hayes said of the furor after Toure was dumped.

"Toure has been knocking the Libertarian Party in his Twitter feed. But he declined to discuss the matter with Clout....

"Toure ... testified about gun violence in a Sept. 26 hearing of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee. He addressed the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) in February. And he appeared in the Pennsylvania Capitol rotunda in May for a gun-rights rally hosted by State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, a Butler County Republican and one of the most conservative members of the state legislature."

Read more: https://www.inquirer.com/politics/clout/libertarian-party-maj-toure-keynote-speaker-invitation-revoked-20191115.html
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