Texas Veterans Join Together for Weekend of Training to Defend Voting Rights and Access to the Ballot
MEDIA ADVISORY: September 05, 2024
***MEDIA ADVISORY***
Texas Veterans Join Together for Weekend of Training to Defend Voting Rights and Access to the Ballot
San Antonio, TX — With more and more Americans concerned about violence and extremism during this year's elections, more than 25 Texas veterans from diverse backgrounds, branches, and eras of service are gathering to learn skills to protect communities against the unprecedented attacks on democracy. This convening is one of several being organized in the run-up to the election by Common Defense, the nation’s largest grassroots veterans organization.
Veterans uniquely understand the price of our freedoms, and the stakes of the current threat posed by extremism and political attacks on the fundamental right to vote. Over the past 8 years our communities have seen a dramatic increase in major threats to democracy through voter intimidation by vigilantes and militias, foreign election interference, misinformation, and restrictions on voting access. That is why Common Defense, Task Force Butler, and Texas veterans are coming together to defend this sacred right.
Approved media are invited to attend select sessions of this intensive training as participants learn how to combat misinformation within their communities, develop narrative strategy, public speaking, and community organizing skills.
A similar training weekend was held in Phoenix, AZ earlier this summer in partnership with Task Force Butler as part of a national effort to train veterans in swing stages as we approach an election that may pose historic risks to civic participation. During this training, veterans learn how to organize their communities to safely and effectively respond to extremist activity.
WHO: Texas Veterans, Common Defense, Task Force Butler
WHEN: Training Modules will take place throughout the entire weekend (Friday morning through Sunday afternoon). Modules of particular interest may be:
Narrative Strategy + LTE/Op-Ed Training | Friday Sep.06 3 PM - 4:30 PM
Introduction to Counter Extremism Training | Friday Sep.06 4:45 PM - 6 PM
Direct-To-Camera Video Training | Saturday Sep.07 9:15 AM - 11 AM
WHERE: San Antonio, Texas (RSVP via email for precise location)
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— Common Defense is a grassroots, veteran-led organization that was founded in 2016. We empower veterans to stand up for our communities against the rising tide of racism, hate, and violence, to organize against the entrenched powers that have rigged our economy, and to champion an equitable and representative democracy, where “liberty and justice” truly is for all. For too long, politicians from both political parties have attempted to use veterans as unwilling political props, and Common Defense serves as a home for veterans to organize and speak for themselves.