Text of the original announcement, emailed on October 28:
Protest the grand opening of the Bricktown Bass Pro
A rally to protest Oklahoma City's rejection of the right of business owners to engage in honest competition on a free and open market undistorted by government favoritism will be held Thursday, November 20 beginning at 9AM at the northwest corner of Reno and Byers Avenues.
At 9AM that morning, the doors of the Bricktown Bass Pro will open for the public to do business for the first time. The Bricktown Bass Pro is subsidized by the City of Oklahoma City, which is spending approximately twenty million dollars in taxpayer money to construct Bass Pro's Bricktown location. The justification given to the City Council to persuade them to vote in favor of this arrangement was economic development. But according to the City's own estimates, Bass Pro will most likely end up harming the City's economy rather than helping it, as it pulls business away from existing retailers, causing loss of income and employment that will ripple through the City's economy as a result. This fact, the fact that the City Council saw fit to grant competitive advantages to one business owner that it has no intention of granting to any other sporting goods retailer in Oklahoma City, along with what is perceived by many to be a special relationship between the Gaylord family, which owns Bass Pro, and those in the City government with responsibility for making decisions regarding the use of taxpayer funds for economic development projects, is what we will be protesting across the street when those doors open on November 20.
While there are some who say that the Bricktown Bass Pro is a done deal and there is nothing anybody can do about it, there are others who have vowed that this establishment will never get one penny of their business. We may not be able to change the City Council's vote, but we can remind them how we feel about it. And as to the City Council, the two councilmen who recently voted against additional funds for the Bricktown Bass Pro, Brent Rhinehart and Jerry Foshee, will be invited to participate in this protest and show all those who oppose this development - and the rejection of the principles of economic freedom which this development represents - that freedom IS being represented in the City Council chambers, but it is in the minority and it needs all the support which the citizens of Oklahoma City can muster. We strongly urge everyone who is concerned about corporate welfare, government favoritism, and the abuse of your hard earned tax dollars to provide unfair advantages to those unwilling to engage in free competition, to join us in our protest. Please forward this email to all such persons.
For more information and updates, please visit www.oklahomacapitalist.com, or send email to mail@oklahomacapitalist.com.