A coalition of anti-racism groups has organized a demonstration against a planned Ku Klux Klan meeting in Indiana.
The Indiana Mutual Aid Coalition said its April 3 event outside the DeKalb County Courthouse in Auburn would not be a protest but an "assembly of people networking against racial injustice and hate."
The Church of the Ku Klux Klan plans to hold an "Indiana White Unity Meet & Greet" on the same day. The meeting is believed to be taking place on private property in Auburn.
DeKalb County Sheriff David Cserep II told the KPC News Service in February that the department was aware of the planned KKK event and "giving it the thought process it requires."
The Indiana Mutual Aid Coalition has urged the rally against the KKK to be peaceful, and will be collecting non-perishable food to "promote mutual aid" during the gathering.
In a series of tweets, one of the local organizers said the group's aim was to have a response that is not "reactionary or puts marginalized community members at unnecessary risk."
"Why not resort to nazi punching, you ask? Well, after violence at their last public rally in 1999 the city stopped giving the klan permits so they are meeting on private property and we very much live in 'f**k around and find out' territory," Twitter user Comrade Bumblejack added.
"The locals are not interested in people f*****g around and their marginalized populations finding out. They figure if the KKK is regionally recruiting, connecting, and organizing than it would be remiss for those that oppose them to ignore this opportunity to do the same.
"The ability to combat white supremacist organizing long term and successfully lies in solidarity networks, community organizing and mutual aid networks.
"So instead of putting on your fighting gloves, the locals ask that you come for an afternoon of meeting other people doing anti-racist work in the region, learning how to get plugged in to ongoing efforts, and leaving the community better than you found it."
The Southern Poverty Law Center said the Church of the Ku Klux Klan might have chosen Auburn for its meeting because Jeff Berry, a Klan leader who died in 2013, lived in Newville, east of the city.
Auburn also has an almost entirely white population—98.2 percent—according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The Church of the Ku Klux Klan has planned another event in Paris, Texas, in October.
The DeKalb County Sheriff's Office has been contacted for further comment.
