Rallies planned outside Google HQ postponed

Conservative protesters scuttled plans to gather outside Google’s offices this weekend, putting on hold an effort to take America’s culture wars directly to Silicon Valley.

The region was long insulated from political rancor but now has become one of the most important ideological battlegrounds. That became more clear Wednesday, when protest organizers said that the news coverage surrounding their plans had led to threats from left-wing “terrorist groups.”

The now-postponed rallies were inspired by James Damore, the former Google engineer who was fired last week for posting a 10-page internal memo arguing that the lack of women in tech could be attributed to biological differences. His dismissal sparked an outcry from conservatives who say their opinions are being muzzled by liberal technology companies and led Damore to criticize his former company for promoting a “particularly intense echo chamber.”

“The March on Google stands for free speech and the open discussion of ideas,” wrote event organizer Jack Posobiec, a conservative media figure who pushed the “Pizzagate” and Seth Rich conspiracy theories.

Posobiec, who did not respond to questions sent to his Facebook page, had said that the planned marches would not be “alt-right” events and that he wanted to avoid the violence and mayhem experienced in Charlottesville, Va., last weekend.

Protests had been planned for Saturday at Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., and other company offices such as Los Angeles, Atlanta, Pittsburgh and Seattle.

Organizers say they now plan to hold the events “in a few weeks’ time.”

A post on the march’s website said the event was postponed because of threats from unspecified “alt-left terrorist groups,” including one from someone threatening to drive a car into the march.

Mountain View police have said organizers of the Google protests were not connected to Charlottesville rally participants.