Anti-Google protest in Mountain View postponed due to ‘threats’

FILE - This Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013, file photo shows Google's headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. Google is intensifying its campaign to fight online extremism, saying it will put more resources toward identifying and removing videos related to terrorism and hate groups. In a blog post Sunday, June 18, 2017, Google said that it will train more workers, called “content classifiers,” to identify and remove extremist and terrorism-related content faster. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File) less FILE - This Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013, file photo shows Google's headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. Google is intensifying its campaign to fight online extremism, saying it will put more resources toward ... more Photo: Marcio Jose Sanchez, Associated Press Photo: Marcio Jose Sanchez, Associated Press Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Anti-Google protest in Mountain View postponed due to ‘threats’ 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

In the wake of last weekend’s violent protests in Charlottesville, Va., a coordinated wave of anti-Google demonstrations planned around the country for Saturday has been postponed because of threats the group allegedly received, according to the organizer.

The March on Google, organized by Jack Posobiec, a controversial online personality with a large far-right following, was to take place in nine cities, including Mountain View, the company’s headquarters. In one instance, Posobiec claimed, an “Alt Left terrorist group” threatened to drive an automobile into Saturday’s march — an echo of a fatal incident in Charlottesville.

Officials from seven cities, including Mountain View, Washington and Pittsburgh, said they were unaware of any such threats. The Mountain View Police Department said that “out of an abundance of caution,” it will provide more security around Charleston Park next to Google headquarters, where a rally was scheduled, as well as at City Hall, the site of a planned counterprotest.

Plans for the march were made last week in response to the firing of Google software engineer James Damore, who wrote a memo suggesting that men are more biologically suited to pursue careers in coding than women. Google executives said that his memo may have violated company policies and the law.

Even before the cancellation, the event appeared to have little support among its intended audience. As of Wednesday afternoon, only about 40 people had indicated on Facebook that they intended to participate — a paltry number compared with the droves of people that participated in the Unite the Right rally and counterprotests in Charlottesville.

According to officials in eight of the nine cities where protests were planned, including Mountain View, organizers did not apply for a permit. Permits are often required for demonstrations that are expected to attract a significant number of people.

Still, some residents of the Peninsula city feared that the march could result in a tense confrontation, with people driving from as far away as the Central Valley to express opposition to Google’s diversity policies.

Critics of the march argued that that stance could bleed over into the white-supremacist views supported by participants in the Charlottesville protest, which began Friday night in opposition to the Virginia city’s decision to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee — and escalated Saturday into a bloody clash.

Heather Heyer, 32, died after she was hit by a car that plowed into a crowd of those rallying against the extreme-right march. The driver, James Alex Fields Jr., 20, has been charged with second-degree murder.

While the March on Google was planned before the Charlottesville demonstrations, it was clearly difficult for Posobiec to distance this movement from white supremacists, despite his attempts to do so.

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On Monday, Posobiec wrote that “messages that are designed to incite anger, hate, or violence” would not be tolerated at the march.

Posobiec is a well known right-wing media figure with a significant audience on social media. He has been known to push conspiracy theories such as Pizzagate — a false theory that top Democrats were involved in a child sex-trafficking ring in Washington — and worked for the Rebel, a conservative website.

Posobiec said he was in the process of applying for the permits but that after the Charlottesville demonstrations, he decided to change course.

Mountain View Vice Mayor Lenny Siegel was skeptical about the March on Google’s intent.

“I see this protest as an opportunistic way to build the right wing under the guise of promoting free speech,” Siegel said.

Siegel has been helping to organize an alternative event to the anti-Google demonstration, held at the same time at Civic Center Plaza in Mountain View, about 3 miles from the Google campus. Siegel said his event, which will take place from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday despite the March on Google’s postponement, is under the auspices of Mountain View Voices for Peace and Justice, and is not an official city event. Organizers have applied for a city permit and plan to offer an open microphone.

“The reason to hold the event is to reject the emergence of these far-right-wing people coming out of their shells, and rejecting their message,” said Siegel.

Wendy Lee and Trisha Thadani are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: wlee@sfchronicle.com, tthadani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @thewendylee, @trishathadani