The Lebanon, Mason & Monroe Railroad in Warren County has been the subject of threats and intimidation after the Republican Women of Warren County paid them for a “Trump Train” fundraiser. Republican groups spent thousands of dollars in preparation, only to have the organization pull out of the event.
It was scheduled for Sunday, October 5th.
In a statement carried by the Dayton Daily News, LM&M said, “After the Republican Women of Warren County’s marketing announced the event as a ‘Trump Train’, and after much consideration by our management team, LM&M Railroad decided to disassociate ourselves from this event due to our 501c(3) status. Because of this status, and as outlined by the IRS, The LM&M Railroad cannot be connected to an event supporting any political candidate or politician. The LM&M Railroad is not affiliated with any political party.”
Julie Byrne told The Ohio Star, “As Vice Chairman of the Warren County GOP, I welcome rigorous and even passionate debate about the issues affecting all Americans. However, the kind of intolerance that leads people to threaten fellow citizens, their livelihoods, their businesses, and their property simply because they disagree with them—or in this case, disagree with a customer of theirs—is not compatible with a healthy, functioning Republic. That kind of extremism—that kind of bullying—discourages citizens from participating in society and our political processes, and then we all lose.”
In a facebook post, the Women’s group shared, “From the very beginning the Republican Women of Warren County’s interactions with the LM&M Railroad, we were clear about the intention to rent the train and the Railroad’s facilities to hold a ‘Trump Train’ event. The LM&M was equally clear that it could not ‘sponsor’ the event.”
The post illuminated the harassments and threats, stating, “We were told by a LM&M representative that they had received threats to challenge their charitable tax exempt status to the IRS and additional threats to revoke train sponsorships, and that because of these threats they decided to no longer participate in the event by renting the train to us. We understand that a charitable organization like LM&M doesn’t want to fight such costly legal battles or lose other scheduled train sponsorships.
The GOP of Warren County sent their members a note about the cancellation, including the following, “All of these activities will no longer happen due to the harassing and threatening behavior of certain individuals. It’s unacceptable that some in our community would threaten and harass local organizations simply because they agreed to provide a service for a local Republican party.”
“There is an increasingly vocal part of society that is determined to use threats and intimidation to prevent everyday Republicans and conservatives from engaging in normal activities in public,” they wrote. “This is dangerous, chilling, and a threat to the health of our Republic. Our very ability to peaceably assemble is under attack from people who are determined to threaten us and anyone/organization we associate with. We will not stand for it.” (emphasis theirs)
The Republicans held no ill will toward the railroad. Their final comment to their supporters was, “In the meantime, the Warren County Republican Party encourages everyone to support our local businesses—and please wear your Trump 2020 or other favorite GOP shirt while doing so. Let everyone know that we will not be intimidated and forced into silence.”
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Photo “Lebanon Mason Monroe Railroad” by Lebanon Mason Monroe Railroad.
