How Disagreement Over a Pedophile Upended a Libertarian Anti-War Rally

An anti-war rally slated for later this month has been thrown into disarray by disagreements about a convicted child sex predator’s participation, with many speakers threatening to pull out of the Libertarian Party-led event if it booted the pedophile.

Internal pressure was building for Scott Ritter’s exclusion from the rally by the Libertarian Party. Washington Free Beacon reported about Ritter’s criminal past, which includes a 2011 prison stint for masturbating online in front of an undercover cop he believed to be an underage girl. Ritter was twice arrested in 2001 for showing up to meetings with 15- and 14-year-old girls. Ritter’s status is currently a featured speaker. “Rage Against the War Machine” Rally is still in limbo

The internal struggle over whether a child pedophile should be allowed to take the stage at the rally on February 19 has attracted not only the leadership of the Libertarian Party but also prominent defenders Ritter, including former Ritter supporters Fox News Tara Reade and Judge Andrew Napolitano, who have emerged as anti-war activists since President Joe Biden accused them of sexual assaulting their daughter.

After more than a week of the chaos over Ritter’s involvement in the event, the Libertarian Party leadership was elected Tuesday called Ritter will withdraw from the event. “confronted him about his criminal history.” Ritter posted some internal correspondence that casts doubt on the party’s claim that they believe Ritter committed past crimes. “despicable” “contradict our values.”

These records reveal that Angela McArdle, Libertarian Party chairwoman, initially told Ritter that she wanted him not to be a speaker after hearing about his criminal past. Ritter is quoted as having said that Angela McArdle was her Libertarian Party chairwoman. Shared on his blog McArdle even questioned him about how to answer questions about his pedophilic nature.

“We’re starting to get questions from conservative publications about the accusations leveled against you,” Ritter says she wrote. “Is there a way you’d like me to respond when I get asked about your past?”

Ritter was gracious enough to offer to withdraw. “if this makes you uncomfortable,” McArdle demurred, saying, “Neither of us [she and fellow organizer Nick Brana] want you to drop out. I wanted to run it by you before I started shooting off quotes to reporters.”

McArdle told Ritter, however, that she had changed her mind due to pressure mounting. “The hit

*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases