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Keep Speaking, Fredy

Dear Fredy,

If you believe the things that you consistently write about and post about on Facebook, then keep speaking. You have that right. But remember that while you are free to say them, you are not free from the consequences of posting your beliefs on various topics in a public forum.  Many people may agree and many people may disagree and many people might find your beliefs to be odious. Clearly, many do.

But you are not just a regular person. Your beliefs do not exist in a vacuum. You also serve in the capacity as an elected official in the governing body of the Republican Party of Virginia, which has a creed. Therefore, the body politic in which you are an elected member also has the freedom to express the concern that your views may not line up with the creed that you and other Virginians follow. That is their right.  That is also the business of consequences.

As such, the other members of State Central Committee have the freedom to decide whether or not you ought to continue to represent them and other Virginia Republicans as an elected member of the governing body. That is why there is due process. It’s why they gave notice of their concerns and gave you thirty days to respond to those concerns. That is why they will ultimately vote on how your views represent the creed of the Republican Party of Virginia and its members within our Commonwealth on March 24, 2018.

If you do receive a 2/3 majority vote removing you from leadership, there is nothing stopping you from continuing to say the things that you believe in on Facebook and in other public platforms. No one has infringed on your right to speak your mind in the past, and no one will infringe on your right to do so in the future. So keep saying them. Stand by them — now and in the future — if that is what you believe.

You just won’t be saying them while also holding a position as an elected member of the State Central Committee.