By Paul Gattis
The NAACP protested plans for a gun shop and Moms for Liberty, labeled an extremist group earlier this year by the Southern Poverty Law Center, to be among 70 business vendors at Saturday’s Madison Street Festival in Madison.
The gun shop, Lt. Dan’s Gun and Pawn in Huntsville, will not be participating, according to Madison Street Festival President Crystal McBrayer.
“I think if they might have contacted us, we could have conveyed that information,” McBrayer said of the Limestone County chapter of the NAACP, which held a press conference Thursday in Madison to share its concerns.
At the press conference, the NAACP said it had not contacted the street festival about its concerns. McBrayer confirmed that she had not heard from the group and only became aware Thursday morning of any concerns.
Hanu Karlapalem, second vice president of the Limestone NAACP chapter, noted that the SPLC has linked Moms for Liberty with Proud Boys, another extremist group that came to prominence during the Jan. 6, 2021, siege of the U.S. Capitol.
“We believe that the people of Madison and the attendees should be able to enjoy the festival with their families, including children, without the concerns of the presence of a gun booth and a booth by a group that is designated as a pro segregationist and extremist group,” Karlapalem said. “People of Madison should not pay attention to the Moms for Liberty message of hate and violence. We must ignore groups or individuals spreading any kind of divisive and dangerous messages.”
McBrayer said the gun shop only recently pulled out of the festival and its listing among the more than five dozen festival vendors will be removed Thursday. The gun shop has closed, McBrayer said.
Moms for Liberty, founded in 2021, has emerged nationally as a parental-rights group “that engages in anti-student inclusion activities and self-identities as part of the modern parental rights movement,” the SPLC said on its website.
Asked about Moms for Liberty being labeled as an extremist group, McBrayer said, “I have no comment on that. Because we’re just not in that field.”
McBrayer said the festival, which is expected to attract more than 40,000 people, is open to an array of groups.
The list of vendors on the Madison Street Festival website includes a variety of area businesses and organizations – from political organizations and civic clubs to for-profit businesses to the Huntsville Havoc minor league hockey team. The vendors are part of the festival’s “business showcase,” which is one of 12 areas of attractions at the festival that also includes a children’s area, student art area, food and a parade.
“We accept all,” she said. “We have a very limited footprint here. And any 501(c)(3) organization or business or multi-level marketing, they’re all welcome.”
Moms for Liberty held an event at the Madison Public Library in August that was scheduled, then canceled over library concerns about the number of people planning to attend before being rescheduled when concerns over not exceeding library capacity were alleviated. Among concerns about the group listed by the SPLC is that it opposes LGBTQ+ and racially inclusive school curriculum and has advocated book bans.
As a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization, Moms for Liberty is not legally required to disclose its financial donors.
