Doylestown Activist Apologizes To NAC Owner Over Jan. 6th Petition

NEWTOWN TOWNSHIP, PA — To settle a Jan. 6, 2021 defamation lawsuit, Doylestown political activist Gregory Bullough has publicly apologized to Bucks County businessman Jim Worthington for creating an online petition, which was widely interpreted as accusing Worthington of sponsoring and organizing busloads of rioters to participate in violent attacks on the U.S. Capitol Building.

Worthington, the owner of the Newtown Athletic Club and founder of the People 4 Trump organization, faced criticism following Jan. 6 after People4Trump organized a bus trip of nearly 200 people to the nation's capital for a rally hosted by President Trump. Some attendees at that rally later stormed the Capitol and caused a riot.

In the wake of the bus trip, Bullough launched an online petition drive calling on numerous groups and community organizations in Bucks County to end their partnerships with the Newtown Athletic Club. Worthington responded to the petition by filing suit against Bullough.

“In the aftermath of the events of January 6, 2021, many supporters of President Trump were demonized simply for attending a peaceful rally at the Ellipse in Washington, D.C.," said Worthington. "Unfortunately, I was among those subjected to indiscriminate and untrue accusations, including an online petition which was interpreted as stating that I had sponsored and organized busloads of rioters to participate in violent attacks on the U.S. Capitol Building.

"When this petition was published, it not only resulted in a torrent of hatred and threats towards me and my family personally, but also did significant damage to my business, the Newtown Athletic Club (NAC)," said Worthington. “After I filed a lawsuit against the creator of the petition, he chose to apologize and donate to my charity."

In his apology made public by Worthington, Bullough said in January 2021 he published an online petition "which was widely interpreted as stating that the Newtown Athletic Club and its owner, Jim Worthington, had sponsored and organized three busloads of rioters to participate in a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 6, 2021. Anyone who interpreted my petition in that manner is wrong because that is untrue and did not happen."

The apology from Bullough comes nine months after former Democratic Congressional nominee and current candidate Ashley Ehasz and her Democratic campaign firm – Foglamp Digital – publicly apologized for campaign materials, which falsely accused Worthington of funding the January 6th “insurrection”.

"There is a lesson to be learned from this – the division in our public discourse is hurting our country at a time when we need to be united," said Worthington. "We can disagree, and we can even disagree forcefully, but at the end of the day we are all members of this community, and we should treat each other with dignity and respect. Indeed, I echoed these same sentiments earlier this year when former Congressional candidate Ashley Ehasz and her team publicly apologized for repeating false accusations about me during her campaign.”

Both apologies were part of the resolution of two lawsuits filed by Worthington challenging statements linking him to the violence at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Bullough's complete statement appears below.