COLQUITT COUNTY, Ga. (WALB) - The Colquitt County Republican Party said members within the organization are now receiving threats after a ‘Prayer on the Square’ event they hosted in memory of Charlie Kirk on Sunday, Sept. 14 at the Colquitt County Courthouse Square.

According to the chairman of the organization, Dennis Futch, the party hosted this hour of prayer to honor the legacy of the late Charlie Kirk. Over 500 people attended the prayer and vigil memorial service.

At the service, a man who was seen wearing a T-shirt that read “Kamala Harris: Make America Love Again” was removed from the event after Futch said the man was “causing a disturbance.”

“Before we started the service at 2 p.m., he came across the lawn and confronted me about 1:50 p.m. or so, and he went to cursing at us and calling republicans ‘BS’. He was being very disruptive.” Futch said. “I told him if he sat down and be quiet, he could stay. We didn’t care if he stayed, but he wasn’t about to be cursing at anyone. He was not mistreated. He was not arrested. He was just told to not come back if he couldn’t act right.”

“As he walked away, I told the man, like Charlie would, that I’m praying for you because it was not the time or place,” said Alex Futch, son of Dennis Futch.

One person, who also provided these photos, said they witnessed the man, later identified as Marvin Thompson, being removed. The witness did not want to be identified or recorded because they said they are in fear because of the current political climate. The witness told WALB in full:

I had been at the Courthouse for about 20 minutes when I noticed some sort of activity near one of the organizer tents. I saw a Black man, with his arms out as if he were asking, “Why?” I realized I’d seen the same man when he initially approached the venue; he approached calmly, walked over to the seating area and sat down. So, after I saw him at the tent, I moved closer to see if I could figure out what was happening. I could hear the event organizer loudly yelling at law enforcement, “I want him gone!” Two uniformed officers then motioned for the man to leave and began to escort him across the courthouse lawn. At that point, the crowd stated loudly cheering. I took the photos of him being escorted out, and then I realized what was written on his shirt. ‘Kamala: Make American Love Again.’

I was, and am, stunned. The man was peaceful and sat down to listen, just like everyone else in attendance, and it’s obscene that he was forced to leave, seemingly for absolutely NOTHING other than a t-shirt and his skin color. The organizer and crowd had an opportunity to bridge a gap and actually work toward some kind of unity going forward, and instead they lived up to a hateful stereotype. And it breaks my heart that the nation is filled with so much hate. We should, and CAN, be better than this."

In the picture, Thompson is seen holding a water bottle — water that according to Dennis Futch, was offered to him by the organization.

“I wanted the man to have water if he needed it. They walked him off the square, and I didn’t know he was still there in his truck. When he went to leave almost at the end of the service, he pulled up at the red light across from the amphitheater and hollered explicative at us and the police followed him down the street and pulled him over. And they told him he had to leave the area, or he was going to go to jail,” Dennis Futch said. “I told them not to arrest him because he has a First Amendment right, but you don’t have a right to yell at a memorial service. He just needs to go on and leave us alone.”

After the picture and the vigil, Dennis Futch said he and his staffer, who is Black, have received threats.

“I’ve got a lot of hate and a lot of death threats, but I’m going to stand up for what’s right. And I’m going to stand up for everybody’s rights” Dennis Futch said.

President of the Moultrie Colquitt County NAACP Dr. Patrick McCray said he grew up knowing Thompson as a deacon in the church. He said Thompson was escorted by law enforcement to an area where the event would not be disrupted.

“I am very pleased with the way that they had officers out there to ensure that everyone’s rights would be respected, and that’s what we advocate for. But he strongly verbalized his opposition to the event at the event,” said Dr. McCray.

The Colquitt County Republican Party’s official Facebook page made a post on Tuesday, Sept. 16 that has since been deleted. The post read “In a world of George Floyds... Be a Charlie Kirk!”

The post garnered thousands of interactions, including comments both in support and in opposition of the statement.

“Charlie Kirk was the opposite of George Floyd,” Dennis Futch said when asked about the post. “But when I realized that people were taking that wrong, it was deleted because I don’t want people to take it out of context. I want them to be good people, Christlike. It’s not that George Floyd was the problem, it’s the life he led until he got killed was the problem. He was killed wrongly. He shouldn’t have been killed, but he had enough drugs in his system to die whether the guy put his knee on his neck or not, that’s a fact.”

“When you push out that type of rhetoric, a lot of times that type of rhetoric will come back in your direction,” Dr. McCray said. “I don’t advocate it. I don’t support any political violence or anything of that sort, and I also don’t support any divisive language.”

Leaders on both sides of the aisle are calling for peace and unity amongst South Georgians during this time of political divide.

“Knowing that he was shot over his beliefs in a country where we’re supposed to have free speech is scary because we need God more than ever in this country,” Alex Futch added.

“I get emotional and sad because our country doesn’t have God in the center of it right now, and I’m sad because we have to bring that back. That’s why I told him that I would pray for him even though he was disruptive because we have to pray for everyone,” Alex Futch said.

“We need to unify. We are Americans. We are the greatest country on Earth. We don’t need to be at one another’s throat,” Dennis Futch added.

“Violence and threats of violence unfortunately were common during the Civil Rights Movement, so it does not surprise me at all that such things continue to happen given the racially divisive rhetoric of today. At least those spewing the hatred now are no longer hiding under white sheets like they did in the past” Dr. McCray said. “Jesus is the truth, the way and the light for all mankind, not just for those of a particular party, ideology, skin tone or race. We will continue to spread that light. We will continue to advocate for the peaceful right for all and spread that light — the way the Constitution gives us the right to do.”

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