Far-right conspiracy theories rule at Dripping Springs' 'Take Back Our Border' rally

Conspiracy theories about COVID-19 and the Jan. 6 insurrection ran rampant Thursday evening as the "Take Our Border Back" convoy held a rally in the Texas Hill Country town of Dripping Springs. One of the event's speakers even accused Jewish Americans of funding border crossings by terrorists.

Several thousand people descended on the sleepy Austin suburb to watch far-right figures including former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and '70s-rock relic Ted Nugent, who flew in via helicopter, rail against the White House's border policy and the federal government in general.

Palin served up rhetoric reminiscent of the post-recession Tea Party movement, while Nugent ranted about the 1991 Luby's cafeteria shooting in Killeen that killed 24 people. If people inside the restaurant had guns, fewer would have perished, he argued.

"I've never been in a gun-free zone," Nugent bragged. "Once I arrive, it's not a gun-free zone anymore."

Armed with his guitar, Nugent then performed a passable imitation of Jimi Hendrix's "Star Spangled Banner" rendition. The crowd broke into chants of "USA" at its conclusion.

However, as TV news crews packed up their gear after comments from Palin and Nugent, the sky darkened. So did the rhetoric of the event's speakers.

"Hamas is coming across [the border], Hezbollah is coming across, Venezuela is filled with Hezbollah, you understand that," war correspondent-turned-conspiracy theorist Michael Yon yelled into the microphone. "Venezuela is filled with Hezbollah. They speak Spanish fluently. Their soccer team is Venezuelan, their body language is Venezuelan and they grew up in Venezuela."

Yon then alleged Jewish Americans are funding the border crossings of anti-Israel terrorists.

"The United States is the main funder; another main funder is the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, Jewish, right?" Yon said. "They are actually funding the people that are going to come to places like Ft. Lauderdale synagogues, and they're going to scream 'Allah Ackbar,' and they're going to shoot the shit out of them."
Despite the absurdity and lack of evidence supporting Yon's claim, none of the people gathered around the stage at the One Shot Distillery & Brewery, which hosted the rally, appeared to bat an eye. Instead, the crowd cheered, many nodding in agreement.

Things only got weirder from there.

Convicted Jan. 6 felon Ryan Zink, now running to represent Texas' 19th District in Congress, told the crowd the federal government tried to poison his food with bleach and put raw chicken in the pipes of his prison cell while he was incarcerated for his role in storming the U.S. Capitol.

The crowd responded with chants of "Free J6," a slogan defending those arrested during the insurrection. The chant reverberated through the gathering several more times during the night.

Zink went on, alleging that the federal government was motivated to kill him because of his father's work investigating Dominion Voting Systems.

Right-wing extremists have repeatedly accused the voting machine company of rigging the 2020 election in Joe Biden's favor. Last year, Fox News agreed to pay Dominion nearly $800 million to avert a trial over the company's suit accusing the TV network of spreading lies about election interference.

Another congressional hopeful, Victor Avila, who's running to represent Texas' 23rd District, stopped just short of accusing the White House of sex trafficking migrant children.

"Do you know that the Biden administration lost over 100,000 kids, unaccompanied children?" said Avila, who described himself as having "rescued countless women and children from sex slave trade and forced labor." "And they let in 385,000 unaccompanied children? I'm gonna form a task force and we're going to find them, and I'm going to rescue them.”

Meanwhile, fringe media figure Ann Vandersteel — best known for her role promoting the Pizzagate conspiracy theory — accused Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of weaponizing COVID-19 and collaborating to make the virus airborne.

During her time at the mic, Lara Logan — a one-time 60 Minutes correspondent who now traffics in extreme-right conspiracy theories — reminded the audience that the mainstream media in attendance "have names and have addresses."

Indeed, reporters arriving to cover the rally were greeted with a sign that read: "All media will be held legally accountable for misrepresentation or slander in articles or media of this Take Our Border Back convoy event."

Many of the people the Current spoke to declined to give their names. Most said they were either curious Dripping Springs residents or drove in from other parts of South and Central Texas.
Convoy member Mona Miller of Branson, Missouri, confirmed to the Current that most of those in attendance weren't joining the convoy as it travels to the border. Just the same, the group has grown from 50 to 70 vehicles, she added.

The "Take Our Border Back" convoy was expected to depart Dripping Springs Friday morning for the Cornerstone Children's Ranch in Quemado, Miller said. Originally, rally organizers said they expected to hold a Saturday rally near Eagle Pass' Shelby Park supporting Gov. Greg Abbott's standoff with the Biden White House.

"We don't want to interfere with what they got going on down there," Miller said. "We just want to bring attention to what's happening on the border."

As of Friday morning, the group's website no longer lists a stop near Shelby Park.

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