Joey Gibson, the leader of the conservative group patriot Prayer, makes the news when his rallies take a turn for the worse. But when you strip away all the dramatic controversy, you’re left with a religious guy from Vancouver with conservative views on policy. What’s so newsworthy about that?

The second Patriot Prayer event at the University of Washington happened on Saturday and it paled in comparison to last year’s. Without an antagonist, Gibson felt small. It was like the wind was gone from his sails. This year’s Patriot Prayer wasn’t the riotous mess of bygone years and, without a crowd amplifying his message, I was able to see Gibson for who he really is.

Gibson’s speech at UW in February 2018 in Red Square was no doubt the most dramatic day University of Washington had experienced since someone was shot on campus while protesting Milo Yiannopoulos only a year earlier. A sea of black-clad antifa protesters and local activists surrounded the mix of UW College Republicans, Gibson’s Patriot Prayer, and the unmistakable black polos of the Proud Boys, the far-right group. More than one hundred police officers fully decked out in riot gear stood in imposing rows, resembling the world’s deadliest paintball team. A news helicopter hovered above the chaos as fights broke out left and right. There was pepper spray, American flags burned, and people were carried away in handcuffs. It fueled the fire Patriot Prayer is constantly trying to start.

But Gibson’s return to UW was limp. In a mostly empty auditorium where I used to fail organic chemistry quizzes, Gibson laid out his life story. The only thing that changed from last year’s event was the venue, but the two events could not have been more different.

To start, there was barely anyone there. The UW Police had learned hard lessons from last year and made it a lot harder to access. The UWCR sold tickets, 173 in total, but only about 50 people showed up in the end. UWPD has been a lot more involved in event planning with UWCR ever since the shooting during the aforementioned Yiannopoulos event, also hosted by UWCR.

“I think there is a misconception that we do these events on a whim,” Swanson said. “Every single part of it is thought through.” Swanson made this year’s Patriot Prayer a ticketed event. Attendees would have to match their IDs with their reserved tickets to gain access to Gibson’s speech.

The tickets were meant to discourage anti-fascist protesters, who UWCR sees as “the biggest problem-causes and troublemakers” according to Swanson, from derailing the event, but it appears the new system may have backfired. A meager crowd of mostly older, white people and a few students listened to Gibson preach. He periodically switched between talking and showing shaky, handheld footage from his past rallies. Imagine if Steve Bannon directed Cloverfield and you’ve got a pretty good idea of what they looked like.

In a vacuum, his speech was innocuous. He spun a lengthy tale about how his leadership playing high school football made him the man he is today. He mused about his faith in God. He railed against Initiative 1639’s restrictions on gun ownership and Nancy Pelosi’s statement calling his rallies a “venue [for] Nazis and white nationalists.” He said Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson was stripping power from local government and empowering Olympia. He wanted congress to take laws off the books, not add more. These are pretty mainstream Republican views. Except when he told the crowd he was a 10 pound 14 ounce baby. I don’t know what to do with that information, but here it is. Nothing he said was particularly revolutionary because Gibson isn’t a revolutionary figure, he’s a controversial one.

His fame – or notoriety depending upon who you ask – stems from the disruptive rallies he holds that often end in violence. Patriot Prayer primarily holds these event in Portland and Vancouver, Washington where the local anti-fascist community love to play the anonymous antagonist. I should note that Patriot Prayer isn’t solely responsible for the violence, they are often outnumbered by counter protesters and some vow to remain nonviolent.

But these rallies also attract white nationalists who spew hate speech and commit violent acts. In 2017, an outspoken white supremacist allegedly stabbed two men to death after attending a Patriot Prayer rally. Although he was not an official member of the group, critics blame Gibson for not doing enough to stamp out violence and racism within his organization.

But Saturday brought him little to no news coverage because there was little to no backlash. He fully enjoyed the free speech he claims to hold so dear, but instead of reaching the readership of every local paper, he only reached about 50 people who already agreed with him. That UW auditorium was nothing more than Gibson’s personal echo chamber.

Seeing Gibson speak without the frenzy of a massive protest stripped away the cult of personality he has built up through media coverage. He thrives on controversy, because without it, he’s just another conservative blowhard in Washington.