Dayton, Ohio is bracing for what could become a violent convergence of groups centered around a Saturday rally by a Ku Klux Klan affiliated group.
Democratic Mayor Nan Whaley released a video Tuesday titled, “Dayton United Against Hate.” In the video she urged people to avoid the downtown part of the city where the rally is slated to take place.
Whaley said she hoped Saturday would be “a day that our community demonstrated that we are united against hate.”
“There are many ways to show this opposition, but for public safety we are encouraging people to avoid downtown during the rally on May 25,” Whaley said. “Extremists such as this hate group are not interested in a conversation and try to use these events to provoke responses from the crowd.”
City officials approved the application from the Honorable Sacred Knights of Indiana in February. The application says that the group expects roughly 20 white supremacists to show up, according to Newsweek.
Counterprotesters, including Antifa, the New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, and other groups are also expected to make an appearance — and they could number up to 1,000.
The director of Dayton’s Jewish Community Relations Council, Rabbi Ari Ballaban, warned in a statement about the potential for violent clashes between the groups. He said he has faith that local police will “ensure Dayton not become the next Charlottesville,” but still worried about the situation.
“Courthouse Square will be a powder keg on the 25th. Not only will the KKK be present, but there will likely be thousands of angry counterprotesters there, many bused in from around the region,” Ballaban said.
In 2017, the white supremacist “Unite the Right” rally Charlottesville, Va., led to clashes between protesters and counterprotesters, culminating in the death of 32-year-old Heather Heyer who was run over by a neo-Nazi.
