Fresno Convention

The Fresno Convention took place in at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California in the summer of 2031 in reaction to Pacifica's secession from the United States. The Convention's putative goal was draft a resolution that called for pro-U.S. residents of Pacifica to secede from Pacifica.

Nicole Yoshida, the acting president of Pacifica, had initially debated whether to allow the convention to happen. She concluded being overtly repressive would be counter to Pacifica's ideals. Instead, Yoshida made sure that hotels lost the reservations of convention attendees. The air conditioner in the Save Mart Center broke down. The internet stream for the speakers had technical difficulties. The reactionaries were also met with counter-protesters. Finally, Axel Lysbakken, the governor of Oregon, arranged for "ringers" to attend. These ringers were Pacificans who created fake on-line profiles to take advantage of the fact that the convention's organizers operated in the virtual world. They were also long-time convention organizers themselves, and were well versed in parliamentarian procedure.

Notable key-note speakers included Colin McCarty, longtime Republican Congressman from rural Kern County. State and national politicians, while favoring the Trump-Pence regime, were still somewhat rational. Local politicians and law enforcement, on the other hand, espoused many of the most extreme conspiracy theories and paranoid ideas.

In the end, despite a number of passionate speeches that reiterated standard Trumpist talking points, the convention was unable to reach a resolution for secession, thanks to the efforts of Lysbakken's ringers. The reactionaries kicked the can down the road for another convention.