N.J. comedy show featuring Proud Boys founder canceled. He plans to sue.

The comedy show at a New Jersey arts center abruptly canceled Thursday night due to security concerns by local officials was scheduled to feature the founder of the Proud Boys, which has been labeled a general hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

In a statement Thursday, Rutherford Mayor Frank Nunziato said an event at the Williams Center had been shut down after online intelligence led the police department to believe that the event had potential for confrontation. He did not specify the event.

Gavin McInnes, the Proud Boys founder, told NJ Advance Media the event was part of his Cognitive Dissidents comedy tour and called the cancellation an overreaction to negative tweets about the show.

This is not a Proud Boys event, McInnes said Friday, blaming without citing evidence members of antifa with tweets that prompted the concerns. This has nothing to do with white supremacy.

McInnes, who in the past has been banned from Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, vowed to sue Rutherford over the canceled show. McInnes estimates the tour loses more than $20,000 each time a show is canceled.

Penn State officials canceled an event featuring McInnes last month after facing mounting criticism and threats of violence.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks extremist groups, issued a statement denouncing the event before it was scrapped.

There is no world in which it is appropriate for a university to provide a platform for Gavin McInnes, who founded and continues to promote one of the largest and most destructive hate groups in the country, said Cassie Miller, senior research analyst with SPLCs Intelligence Project.

Hosting this event puts the safety and security of Penn States campus community at risk, particularly gay, transgender, nonbinary, Muslim, Black and immigrant students who already face discrimination and dehumanization because of their identity.

Rutherfords mayor and police Chief John Russo on Friday did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Previous stops on the Cognitive Dissidents tour have faced similar cancellations in major cities in Chicago and New York.

The show scheduled for Thursday in Rutherford was a makeup show for one canceled in Queens, New York, after the venue owner became concerned about comments on social media, McInnes said. He said the owner of the Williams Center told him in a phone conversation that he felt intimidated by local officials who told him to cancel the event.

The Williams Center owner did not immediately respond to a voicemail message left on his cellphone Friday.

All of these shutdowns are based on tweets and a few phone calls, maybe, McInnes said. They call the cops, they call the staff, they call the staffs mother.

The tour features comedians on McInnes internet TV network.

McInnes said that he arrived outside the Williams Center after Thursdays show was canceled and didnt find any protesters.

If there was a riot about to go down last night, why did zero people show up? Zero, McInnes said. I kept saying that to (the police chief).

Thursdays show is now scheduled for Friday night in Ronkonkoma, New York, McInnes said, declining to name the venue on Long Island. He said ticket-holders will be notified at 2 p.m. Friday where the show will be held.

Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.