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Local residents concerned about white supremacy tracts.
#MasonCountyNews. #ManisteeCountyNews.
By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief.
SCOTTVILLE — A Scottville resident is concerned about paper tracts she found around town Sunday morning promoting a white supremacy agenda. Mary Waller said that she and her boyfriend, Alec Rowe, woke up Sunday morning and headed outside to go for a walk. “We saw what looked like a notice taped to the telephone pole right outside of our home,” she said. “When we looked closer, we were shocked and outraged. What we saw were hateful white supremacist propaganda slipped inside of sandwich bags. We frantically ran from pole to pole looking for more of the messages left behind on benches, under flower pots, taped to mailboxes, and business windows.
“Our town, the main street where our children walk to school, had been vandalized by hate. We were absolutely disgusted. We spent the next few hours walking up and down streets to make sure we collected all of the of the hateful messages and talking to neighbors to see if they had seen the people who had done this or had any other helpful information.”
Waller, and many others, posted her concerns on Facebook and the message spread. People from Ludington and Manistee reported that they also had seen the tracts in their towns.
Scottville Police Officer Angela Babinec said the police department was made aware of the tracts through Mason-Oceana 911, but there isn’t a lot law enforcement can do outside of issuing trespassing tickets. “Babinec said in order to issue trespassing tickets there had to have been witnesses and the witnesses would need to file a formal complaint. Babinec said the message itself is not illegal because of First Amendment protections.
MCP’s news partner, 7&4 News/UpNorthLive, contacted the group that distributed the fliers, Alternative Right Michigan. An anonymous spokesperson with the group responded stating:
“We want to spread awareness that white people and our culture are being replaced, and also that there is nothing wrong with being proud of our advocating for your own people.
Our goal is to recruit enough members so that we can eventually enter the political realm and campaign on our ideals.”
The anonymous respondent said the group has spread the fliers across Michigan and plans to continue to do so.
The Rev. Douglas Welch of Manistee encountered the tracts there. “There has been a lot of people, since the revolutionary war, sacrificing their lives so that we could live free and this just demeans it,” Welch told UpNorthLive. “If they don’t come to your door and they don’t knock on your door and they don’t talk to you face-to-face and they do something like this, it just means that they were a bunch of cowards,” said Welch.
Lori Kowalksi found the tacts posted outside her Filer Township home.
“I just don’t quite understand why,” said Kowalski. “I just don’t think that it’s proper to discriminate against anyone. We are all equal, so the world should be a happier place than that. We don’t need to feel superior to anyone.”
The Alternative Right Michigan group says they posted hundreds of these flyers and they’ll continue to spread their message.
This story and photograph are copyrighted © 2017, all rights reserved by Media Group 31, LLC, PO Box 21, Scottville, MI 49454. No portion of this story or images may be reproduced in any way, including print or broadcast, without expressed written consent. Content used by permission from UpNorthLive.com.
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