Pizza Ranch disinvited the Sioux County Conservatives who plan to hold their Pizza and Policy Night this Thursday at 7:00p. They will hold the event at the Sioux Center Public Library instead. Their speaker is Dr. Steve Kirby this month is the author of five books including Letting Islam Be Islam: Separating Truth from Myth and Islam’s Militant Prophet: Muhammad and Forced Conversions to Islam. Kirby holds a Ph.D. in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia. He retired after working over three decades in law enforcement.
This event sparked a social media campaign by liberals to get the group kicked out of Pizza Ranch, calling Kirby a racist and Islamaphobe:
Now they are trying to get the event to be held at the library canceled.
Pizza Ranch started in 1981 by Adrie Groeneweg in Hull, IA and has grown to 200 locations in 13 states. Their vision as a Christian-owned company is to “glorify God by positively impacting the world.” They also state their mission is to “give every guest a legendary experience.”
It was the guest experience that ultimately led Pizza Ranch to disinvite the Sioux County Conservatives.
Ryan Achterhoff, the Chief Administrative Officer of Pizza Ranch based in neighboring Orange City, told Caffeinated Thoughts said this is an isolated, but an escalating incident. Pizza Ranch is known for hosting different groups, as well as, campaigns to discuss a wide range of political topics.
“Because of this we had ascertained and determined we were going to have a disruptive event,” Achterhoff said.
He said it was a tough decision because the Sioux County Conservatives have been good customers in the past.
He said the corporate office received four or five calls. The Sioux Center location told Caffeinated Thoughts they had received approximately 15-20 calls.
Achterhoff confirmed one of the phone calls came from Indivisible Iowa who informed them they planned to picket the event and threatened a negative PR campaign should Pizza Ranch allow the event to take place there. Pizza Ranch decided it was not worth it.
The Sioux Center Conservatives released the following statement announcing the location change:
These Leftists made claims about the speaker, Dr. Kirby, to Pizza Ranch. Pizza Ranch said it has not verified those claims, but it didnāt want the negative attention that comes with hosting an event like this and did not have time to research it.
The Leftist tactics are a move straight out of Saul Alinskyās āRules for Radicals.ā Clearly Sioux County Socialists, Indivisible Iowa and the individuals responsible were waiting until just before the event in hopes we would have to cancel.
We do not believe efforts to suppress free speech should succeed. Events happen in our area we disagree with, but we do not demand those events not be allowed to happen or threaten violence should they happen.
Clearly the unhinged Left does not want you to hear from Dr. Kirby. They are trying to stop Dr. Kirby from speaking about Islam just a week after celebrating their OC Pride weekend.
It is an interesting combination considering the punishment for homosexuals in some Islamic countries.
