Despite receiving a cease and desist letter Jan. 17, organizers still plan to hold a pirate-themed protest Friday afternoon against Congressman Ted Yoho’s campaign contributors.
An attorney with Crime Prevention Security Systems, which is owned by two Yoho financial supports, sent the letter. It accused the organizers, Alachua County Labor Coalition, of slandering the company, lead organizer Jeremiah Tattersall said. When the security company’s office closes at about 4:30 p.m., protesters plan to come in pirate costumes and march out front.
About 50 people say they will attend on Facebook, and organizers planned for protesters to hold signs that were handmade last Thursday and sing lyrics such as “Yoho, Yoho, no health care for me” to the tune of “Yo Ho (A Pirate’s Life for Me).”
“Congressman Yoho is an economic pirate, plundering the working class, sending millions to Davy Jones's Locker, things along those lines,” Tattersall said. “Once we started on (this pirate theme), we were like, ‘He really is like a pirate.’”
The coalition said Yoho is prioritizing his donors over his constituents. Security company owners John A. Pastore, Jr. and Randi Elrad spent $10,000 on Yoho’s campaigns since he was first elected, making them one of the largest contributors in Alachua County, Tattersall said.
ACLC hosted a similar protest in July of Exactech, which donated to Yoho, and 50 protesters attended, Tattersall said.
“(Donors) have more access to Congressman Yoho than we do,” he said. “He listens to them because they give him the most money.”
Tattersall said Yoho should hold more in-person town hall meetings to listen to the electorate who doesn’t donate to him. His last one was in April, according to Alligator archives.
The town hall was important because Yoho needs to know what his constituents think, Tattersall said.
Crime Prevention Security Systems said it has never donated to Yoho and emphasized the donations it has given to other local charities. Bobby McAfee, the company’s marketing director, wrote in an email that the company expects the protest will be peaceful and said the group had the “right to have fun and play dress-up.”
McAfee said the company wouldn’t comment on what slanderous remarks the coalition made.
“We find it unfortunate that this labor organization, which claims to support workers, would aim to slander a local family-owned and -operated business that employs over 100 hardworking members of our community,” McAfee wrote in an email.
Contact Meryl Kornfield at mkornfield@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter at @merylkornfield.
Ted Yoho
