Police in Tennessee are bracing for neo-Nazi and white supremacist rallies involving some of the groups who took part in a demonstration in Charlottesville that turned violent and resulted to the death of a counter-protester.
Officials in Shelbyville and Murfreesboro, south of Nashville, are preparing for the so-called “White Lives Matter” rallies The events, named to mimic the “black lives matter” slogan frequently heard at demonstrations protesting police violence against communities of colour, have been organised to protest the resettlement of refugees in the state.
The groups say the media also ignored a mass shooting at a Tennessee church, allegedly carried out by a 25-year-old man whose family emigrated from Sudan more than 20 years ago.
Police in Shelbyville, where protesters were first set to gather before moving to Murfreesboro, 25 miles to the north, said they have made preparations for to ensure public safety, particularly in light of what took place in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August.
“Given the recent incidents in our country surrounding protest and counter-protests, the city is taking very seriously multiple concerns regarding the safety of expected protesters, counter-protesters, the public, and the protection of private and public property from damage,” the city’s police department said in a statement.
Meanwhile, in Murfreesboro, Mayor Shane McFarland, posted a video message denouncing the rally, appearing with a group of faith leaders and featuring the #WeAreMurfreesboro hashtag.
“I think the best thing that I can say as a mayor is we are Murfreesboro and we are one community,” said Mr McFarland.
The rally has been organised by Nationalist Front. Its members include League of the South, Traditionalist Worker’s Party, National Socialist Movement and Vanguard America - all considered neo-Nazi or neo-Confederate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Centre, which tracks hate groups, according to Reuters.
James Fields, who has been charged with murder after allegedly driving a vehicle into anti-fascist protester Heather Heyer in Charlottesville, was marching with Vanguard America at the August event, organised to protest a decision to remove Confederate-era statues from the college town.
The group has denied that Mr Fields is a member of the organisation. Its website, says: “The mission of Vanguard America is the preservation and progression of our people, culture, values, and future in the US.
“We stand proudly against those who would seek to undermine our people, nation, and values with the end goal of the destruction and ethnic replacement of our people and our legacy whether intentionally or via pure stupidity and ignorance.”
Brad Griffin, a League of the South member, has written of his desire to create a white “ethnostate”. “We don’t want the federal government to keep dumping all these refugees into middle Tennessee,” he said
Over the last 15 years, about 18,000 refugees have been resettled in Tennessee, less than one percent of the state’s population, The Tennessean reported.
“When they say refugees, what they really mean is Muslims,” Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told the news agency. “Tennessee is one of the states that has seen a rise in anti-Muslim bigotry in recent years, particularly since the election.”
Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam has said he does not plan to declare a state of emergency or deploy the National Guard but will closely monitor the situation, said spokeswoman Jennifer Donnals.
In March, Tennessee sued the federal government over refugee resettlement in the state, saying it was unduly forced to pay for it. Tennessee was the first state to bring such a case on the basis of the 10th Amendment, which limits US government powers to those provided by the US Constitution, though other states have done so on different legal grounds.
Saturday’s rallies come more than a week after hundreds protested a speech by white nationalist Richard Spencer at the University of Florida in Gainesville.
