Rep. Matt Gaetz, wearing a Laken Riley pin, is seen in the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., on March 7, 2024, ahead of the President's State of the Union address. (Aaron Schwartz/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Gaetz and Greene had planned America First rallies in Anaheim and Riverside in 2021, but both venues in both cities canceled the events after they faced pressure from activist groups and local government officials. The lawsuit, filed last year, alleges their First Amendment rights were violated after the cities coerced the private venues to cancel the rallies, including a threat to revoke one venue's permit.
The GOP lawmakers sued, along with their funding committees. They want the court to issue an injunction that would ban cities from "coercing private venues from entering into facilities use contracts with Plaintiffs for future political rallies." They also requested damages for emotional distress.
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Gaetz and Greene are two of former President Trump's staunchest supporters in Congress. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
"The gravamen of Plaintiff's claims against the Nonprofit Defendants is, both legally and literally, a conspiracy theory that relies purely on conjecture," wrote Vera, a President Biden appointee.
"And without an unlawful conspiracy," the judge continued, "all that is left to aver against the Nonprofit Defendants are the unremarkable allegations that they exercised their own First Amendment rights to lobby for the cancellation of the event. That is protected."
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Vera said that Gaetz and Greene could not claim that their First Amendment rights had been violated by activist groups — made up of private citizens — calling for their events to be shut down. In fact, the juge accused the GOP lawmakers of attempting to "settle political scores against these civic organizations" by filing the "unprecedented and stunningly deficient pleading" in the first place.
"[H]aling nine civil rights groups into federal court for speaking out against an event — should shock in equal measure civic members from across the political spectrum."
Fox News Digital's Patrick Hauf contributed to this report.
Chris Pandolfo is a writer for Fox News Digital. Send tips to chris.pandolfo@fox.com and follow him on Twitter @ChrisCPandolfo.
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