![]() The city is also exploring other avenues for the pier, which has become a magnet for protests and rallies. “We can’t stop people from coming to the pier, and we’re not going to be able to stop people from hiding behind the 1st Amendment to spew hateful rhetoric that’s really divisive in our community,” Carr said, “but what we can do is counter it with these types of events.” On Sunday, the city is hosting a virtual “ Day of Unity” at the same time as the White Lives Matter rally. Last week, the city organized a virtual training session to encourage people to take action against hate crimes. Huntington Beach Mayor Kim Carr, reached by phone, said the criticism that the city isn’t doing enough is inaccurate and said Huntington Beach is one of only a few cities in Orange County with a Human Relations Task Force that meets regularly to address these issues. ![]() “We hope that they can utilize events like this as a means to find the common ground and work together for a common goal.” “We just hope everybody can be respectful of each other, treat everybody with dignity and understand that everybody has different perspectives and different opinions,” he said. Smith reaffirmed the Police Department’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, but he also spoke in favor of understanding. ![]() In light of that distinction, some residents are concerned the response to Sunday’s events would be less than equitable. One rally against COVID-19 shutdowns in May drew 2,500 people with no injuries or arrests, but a 500-person Black Lives Matter protest that same month was declared an “ unlawful assembly,” with police firing pepper balls at demonstrators. The department has struggled with protests in the past. Their violent rhetoric targets foes both real and imagined. “The volume is staggering,” he said, adding: “We are in the midst of a storm of hate.”įor Subscribers Suburban radicals: Inside the resurgence of right-wing extremism in Orange Countyįour members of Orange County’s resurgent far right spoke at a pro-Trump rally in Washington the day before the Capitol riots. Nearly 50 instances - including fliers, stickers and freeway banners - were reported in Orange County, Levi said, “and those were just the ones we caught.” In 2020, white supremacist propaganda in the United States hit an all-time high, according to the ADL. “From that perspective, none of us should be surprised that we’re seeing this right now.” “The way the country has experienced a health virus, it’s been years that we’ve been experiencing a viral hate,” Levi said. The problem is pervasive, said Peter Levi, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League in Orange County and Long Beach. For each peaceful protest the city hosts, an equally outraged gathering seems to appear in its stead. There was a law enforcement crackdown on skinheads, and the city created a Human Relations Task Force to deal with issues arising from racism.Įxperts say this weekend’s battle is only one flashpoint in a broader push for social change. The skinhead charged in the killing was also accused of trying to kill two Latino men. In one notorious case, a Black man, Vernon Windell Flournoy, was killed outside a McDonald’s restaurant in Huntington Beach. In the 1980s and 1990s, racist skinheads roamed the city attacking minorities. Huntington Beach, a solidly Republican city of nearly 200,000, has been grappling with these issues for decades. The far right in Orange County remains a force and is building on a long history of extremism. “Even though that is disturbing and shocks most people’s consciences, it’s still a protected right they have to display those images.”įor Subscribers From the KKK to skinheads, a century of fighting hate in Orange County “That’s all protected speech,” Smith said, drawing a comparison to antiabortion groups that march with images of aborted fetuses. Klan imagery, Confederate flags and language about genocide don’t cross that line, he said. Brian Smith, a spokesman for the department, said Wednesday that the KKK event, while not sanctioned, is protected by the 1st Amendment, but added that police will take action if people encroach on civil liberties or incite violence. “They’ve seen racist bullies come to downtown this past year in one guise or another and face zero consequences.” “The Klan is coming here because they think that you will do nothing,” another resident, Lisa Marquise, told City Council members. But others say those countermeasures don’t do much if the KKK feels it can march the streets of the city unchecked. Some plan to attend a counterprotest organized by the grassroots group Black Lives Matter Huntington Beach that has been scheduled for the same day.
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