August 28th, 2026

Attending the AB 2624 Rally

Flyer for the Stop Nick Shirley Act (AB 2624) Rally at the Capitol on Wednesday, August 26, 2026 at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. Featured speakers: Nick Shirley, Steve Hilton, Michael Gates, Senator Tony Strickland, Assemblywoman Alexandra Macedo, Assemblyman David Tangipa, and Pastor Jack Hibbs.

Event Summary

I was at the "Stop the Stop Nick Shirley Act" (an easier name is "protest AB 2624") rally in Sacramento on Wednesday. A fair number of Christians, conservatives, Republicans, Libertarians, and just concerned citizens showed up to have their opposition to the bill be heard.

My family in front of the California State Capitol
The rally crowd in front of the Capitol with American flags and signs

Counter-protesters (antifa) showed up with full face masks, sirens, shields, and various instruments to fight. They yelled, and screamed, and used sirens and bullhorns to try and distract and intimidate. State and local police did a great job keeping them out of the Capitol area. Instead, they took their aggression down side streets harassing anyone who looked like a "fascist Nazi", or whatever caricature they've built (or been paid to build) in their heads about who we are.

Some notable names were there to speak: Nick Shirley, Steve Hilton, Michael Gates, Pastor Jack Hibbs, and many others. Despite the constant stream of anger and profanity coming from the agitators, the rally opened with prayer, words of encouragement, and calls for peaceful opposition to a bill that was rush-signed by Gavin Newsom over the weekend.

My family with Pastor Jack Hibbs in front of the Capitol
The crowd holding an American flag while speakers address the rally from the Capitol steps

"Every Sunday morning a pastor exercises his First Amendment rights to go into the pulpit and proclaim freedom." "If this state starts to tamper with our First Amendment rights, then it tampers with the pulpit."

— Pastor Jack Hibbs

"The co-sponsor of this bill was CHIRLA, who has received over $80 million of your tax dollars to help facilitate the illegal immigration here in California."

— Nick Shirley

Nick Shirley speaking at the rally

Turning Point USA showed up with a TP USA Communities booth representing the freedom-fighting citizens that care about the future of this great-but-backwards state.

The TPUSA Communities booth at the rally

The Bill

A brief explanation of the bill is below. Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, so as always, do your own research.

AB 2624 claims to protect immigration-aid workers. In a nutshell, here's what it does:

AB 2624 lets threatened immigration-aid workers hide their home addresses in public records and creates civil and criminal liability for posting their personal information or images with "the specific intent to incite imminent violence or put them in objectively reasonable fear," as determined by a judge and/or jury.

Any social media post from a journalist (independent or newsroom) that names a worker, shows their face, or maps a home or workplace can be recast as doxxing if a plaintiff or prosecutor argues the framing was meant to scare them or invite harm.

This raises the legal risk and cost of person-focused investigations, especially for independent creators.

The bill creates a chilling effect in many ways:

  • Intent is reconstructed after the fact: Everything tied to a post or video can be skewed towards making a plaintiff feel unsafe.
  • Personal information is broad: Even a face and name outside an office identifying a person can be raw material for a claim.
  • Easy layup for plaintiff: A worker can demand a takedown or seek an injunction and ask for a minimum of $4,000 plus attorney's fees even for a weak case.
  • Venue and identity: The suit can be filed where the worker felt the harm, not only where the poster lives. Local sympathetic juries/judges, expensive California counsel.
  • Criminal case potential: After this bill, the potential for criminal charges can go up when the plaintiff is from this specific and named occupational group.

The Importance

The media was created to keep the powers of government in check, but we all know the media isn't doing its job. The major media outlets have effectively become part and parcel of the Democratic establishment and a large part of the country distrusts them now. This type of independent journalism has been on the rise and fills the gap that the media has left.

This is California's attempt at stopping that by dressing it up in the usual "protect innocent harmless people" language, and California's Democratic supermajority likes to lead the way with its progressive policies, so expect similar bills to come to other states soon if they haven't already.

Event recap video: