Political convention at in Dallas to feature noted QAnon backers Flynn, Powell
DALLAS — A political event hosted by Gilley’s Dallas and the city-owned Omni Dallas Hotel over the four-day Memorial Day weekend will feature several prominent speakers associated with the baseless QAnon conspiracy.
The For God & Country Patriot Roundup, scheduled May 28-31, will include speakers, entertainment and meet-and-greets with high-profile conservative politicians who promoted the conspiracy theory and worked to overthrow the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Among notable speakers are retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser to former President Donald Trump who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his role in the Russia scandal before Trump absolved him with a pardon.
Also scheduled is Sidney Powell, the former Flynn and Trump lawyer who mounted numerous failed challenges to the results of the 2020 election in court.
Both Flynn and Powell have brought widespread attention to and promoted QAnon conspiracy theory, including its widely discredited central belief that a group Satan-worshiping elites who run a child sex ring are trying to control the nation’s politics and media.
Former Trump adviser George Papadopoulos, who served a brief federal prison term for lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russians, is also on the schedule. Papadopoulos, too, received a Trump pardon.
Gilley’s Dallas, where most of the convention will take place, confirmed that it is on the event space’s calendar.
“As with all politically based events, we are simply the venue and have no political affiliation with any group or party,” general manager Jay Powell said in an email.
The Omni is listed on the event’s website as the “host hotel” for the convention, and several VIP and social events will be hosted in and outside the facility.
According to the event’s website, a portion of proceeds from the convention will go to Defending the Republic, a political nonprofit that Powell founded while fighting the results of the presidential election.
A spokeswoman from the Omni Hotel, which is owned by the city of Dallas but operated independently, did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday. A Dallas city spokesperson and City Council Member Adam Medrano, who represents parts of downtown that includes the Omni Hotel, didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday.
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