Tempers flare at Fremont 'Hate-Free' speech meeting

[LostInTime]

Group's leader apologizes for chair shaking incident

While trying to eject 71-year-old Barbara Marques from the monthly gathering Monday, the Rev. Garnet McClure grabbed and shook the chair in which Marques was sitting, attendee Sharon Giottonini said.

McClure, a female pastor at Fremont Congregational Church, reacted after Marques said the 2002 slaying of transgender teen Gwen Araujo might not be a hate crime, several witnesses said.

A scuffle ensued and McClure continued to pull on Marques' chair, added Giottonini, a member of the alliance and the East Bay Coalition for Border Security, a Fremont anti-illegal-immigration group.