U.S. Rep. Brady to speak at Latinos for Trump event in The Woodlands Saturday

According to the Houston Press article, as well as the Facebook pages of several groups, representatives from far-right political groups such as Texans United for America (TUFA), Texas Patriot Network and the group Texans Against Communism were slated to host their own seminar at Bunch’s business offices on Saturday, June 22, from 7-9 p.m. The guest speaker was promoted on Facebook as a New Zealand author who has generated controversy, Trevor Loudon. Bunch said his office is not hosting the alleged far-right groups and he was not aware of their plans. less According to the Houston Press article, as well as the Facebook pages of several groups, representatives from far-right political groups such as Texans United for America (TUFA), Texas Patriot Network and the ... more Photo: Courtesy Images / Courtesy Images Photo: Courtesy Images / Courtesy Images Image 1 of / 20 Caption Close U.S. Rep. Brady to speak at Latinos for Trump event in The Woodlands Saturday 1 / 20 Back to Gallery

UPDATED: 4:50 p.m., June 21

A Hispanic and Latino Republican-voter outreach conference originally scheduled for The Woodlands offices of a business owned by township board Chairman Gordy Bunch is now being hosted at a private location and will include a speech by U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands.

Craig Lewellyn, a spokesman for Brady's re-election committee Brady For Congress, confirmed via email on Friday that Brady, who represents The Woodlands in the U.S. House of Representatives and is the ranking Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, will speak to the Latinos for Trump conference scheduled to begin Friday night.

"Mr. Brady will be addressing the (Latinos for Trump) Conference tomorrow morning," Lewellyn said in his email. "We will not be there for the entire day. We will just be there in the morning to welcome the conference to The Woodlands and speak for a minute about what the President has been doing. We have to leave directly afterwards for another engagement."

Another elected official, Texas state Rep. Steve Toth, R-The Woodlands, said in an email he hopes to attend the event.

"I am going to try and make it," Toth said in a brief email.

Officials from a Pasadena, Calif.-based group called Latinos for Trump 2020 had originally planned to host a two-day seminar at the offices of The Woodlands Financial Group, a large-scale, national insurance company owned by Bunch and headquartered inside an extensive suite of offices on the second floor of The Woodlands Mall.

The event, Bunch said, is intended as a meeting of Hispanic and Latino Republicans who want to see President Donald J. Trumnp re-elected in 2020. They were slated to develop strategies for voter outreach and engagement. After an article in the Houston Press Wednesday, June 19, reported on allegations that several far-right political groups were also attending, organizers decided not to host the two-day session at his offices, Bunch said.

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Bunch issued a statement to The Woodlands Villager late Wednesday afternoon stating his business would not host the event and he and his employees, “Emphatically denounces any form of hate.”

“(Latinos for Trump) Organizers asked to use our training center for a training conference, as many nonprofit organizations do,” Bunch said. “Their event is intended to engage Hispanics getting more involved with elections, registering to vote, and create an opportunity to interact with Republican National Committee, state Republican Executive Committee and elected Texas officials. No other groups or people were involved or disclosed as being involved.”

Concerns surface

In a telephone interview on Wednesday, Bunch said he had been contacted by security officials from The Woodlands Mall and officials with the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office detailing what he described as, “Potential nefarious groups organizing to protest, disrupt, obstruct or otherwise harass the Latinos for Trump meeting.”

“(The) Organizers of the event have chosen to relocate to an undisclosed location to ensure their attendees are kept safe,” Bunch said, adding that while he and his staff condemn hate groups, they also denounce, “attacks on Hispanic Republicans (who) should have the freedom to assemble without the threat of violence or harassment.”

Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Scott Spencer said he was unaware of any specific threats to the event or Bunch’s offices.

“We have received vague and generalized statements of concern from anonymous sources but nothing criminal or specific. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office is monitoring the situation and doing an analysis and assessment on the event,” Spencer said in an email. “No special security concerns have been brought to our attention as of this time. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office is committed to the safety of our citizens, visitors and businesses and will continue to monitor the situation and respond accordingly.”

Spencer's comments were later clarified by Montgomery County sheriff's Capt. Tim Holifield on Thursday, who said he had become aware of possible security issues and that he had told Bunch of the potential for some sort of protest or incident, but nothing specific.

According to the Facebook pages of several groups such as Texans United for America, Texas Patriot Network and the group Texans Against Communism, the groups were slated to host their own seminar at Bunch’s business offices on Saturday from 7-9 p.m. The guest speaker was promoted on Facebook as a New Zealand author who has generated controversy, Trevor Loudon.

Bunch said neither he, nor his business, have any affiliation with any of the organizations or people listed in the Houston Press article and he was unaware they planned to attend the event.

Two representatives for Latinos for Trump 2020 — Bianca Gracia and Marco Gutierrez — emailed a statement to The Villager Thursday. They said the conference will still happen, but in an undisclosed location.

“To be labeled or indicating that we are white supremacist is beyond belief. We acknowledge that this is a tactic by the left progressive agenda to silence, bully, intimidate, and create fear so that we do not assemble or practice free speech,” the pair wrote in the email. “They have used economic terrorism to bully the Woodlands Mall and TWFG from allowing us to educate our Hispanics, not to mention our Hispanic Evangelicals.”

The conference is being monitored by members of the Houston United Front Against Fascism, an informal alliance of activists who are vehemently opposed to white supremacy, said spokesperson Dr. David Michael Smith.

Smith said members of his group sent an email to Bunch on June 14 asking if he was aware of the nature of the groups promoting the event on social media along with website links detailing the two entities. Bunch said he has never been contacted by Smith or anyone from the group.

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The controversy surrounding the conference is not the first time Bunch has been involved in a debate over racial issues.

In September, 2017, Bunch soke at a function hosted by the Texas Patriots PAC and made several comments about the debate over Confederate historical statues and plaques across the nation. Bunch quickly apologized for his comments, stating days later that he did not support moving Confederate statues to The Woodlands and could not foresee that ever occurring.

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On Wednesday, Bunch said he welcomed the members of Latinos for Trump and their mission, however he would never support hate groups or white supremacists.

“The Woodlands Financial Group emphatically denounces any form of hate, and we condemn attacks on race, faith and identity, which are an affront to our beliefs and core values,” Bunch said.

jeff.forward@chron.com