This is a summary of the incident of Ku Klux Klan fliers being circulated before the Niagara County Peach Festival in Lewiston NY, and the police response to the alleged Klan recruitment that was to take place on Saturday, September 7th. All of the statements were published in local news sources in the days prior to that weekend.
These were the fliers seen by members of the community and reported to Lewiston Police Department. The fliers claim that local KKK members would “make their presence known” at the Peach Festival to recruit members of the “historically white” community. Lewiston Police Chief Frank Previte stated here, in regards to the fliers: “I am aware of the flyer. We have consulted with the DA and reviewed the material and it’s not a violation of law — it’s free speech.” Chief Previte said they would look into the authenticity of the fliers, and that they would be taking precautions for any potential problems that would have arisen due to the presence of the klan members. The police did not believe any rally would take place, however they were paying particularly close attention to people who were upset about the klan fliers online. “We are also looking at people’s reactions on social media and some of the threats being made there,” the police chief said. He warned that anyone “violating the law” would be arrested.
If we take a moment to consider that the police and District Attorney have already dismissed the recruitment efforts of a white supremacist group, known for terrorism and violence, as a perfectly legal act of free-speech, therefore exempt from their threat of arrest, but then focus their attention monitoring people who threaten the klan, we can see that the Lewiston Police clearly view people who oppose the klan as a larger problem than the klan itself. This is only one small demonstration of the ways in which the legal system in the United States gives preferential treatment to white supremacist organizations and other extreme right-wing groups, while at the same time, relentlessly cracking down on left-wing movements and activists. Even groups like Food Not Bombs are routinely harassed and arrested for feeding homeless people all around the country, who were unable to invoke their first amendment rights, (which has also happened here in Buffalo) while right-wing extremists are allowed to actively recruit for a dangerous and hateful movement, with the full endorsement of police, courts, and the constitution.
On September 5th, more updates were released, posted by The Niagara Gazette regarding the fliers and statements from LPD. The police department stated the document was determined not to be related to a white supremacist group, and instead was produced by an individual or individuals who have “done this in the past” and have “their own agenda.” (Clearly this agenda is white supremacy.) He declined to elaborate on how the determination was made. Without any concrete information given about the creator(s) of the flier, this set of statements seems to be yet another dismissal of racism and hate in the community, whether from an individual or from a particular organization. Even if the person the police claim to have made the flier isn’t officially affiliated with a klan group and wasn’t intending on recruiting, the effect of the flier was to instill fear in people in the hopes of keeping Lewiston as white as possible. This is not an isolated incident by any means. This is the fourth incident of a racist flier to appear in Lewiston alone in the past two years, along with many others which have appeared around Niagara County. Niagara County (Lewiston especially) has a reputation for being a hotbed of racism and reactionary politics, and seeing how the local law enforcement constantly gives them the green light, we shouldn’t expect that to change any time soon, unless the community starts to step up and take action.
After continuing to downplay signs of terroristic klan activity, and offering no legal way to engage the situation other than ignoring the problem, Chief Previte again emphasized that “while an individual’s beliefs or opinions may be considered by some to be vile or distasteful, it is never acceptable to respond to them with threats of violence.” This reaffirmation of the police department’s willingness to turn a blind eye to extremism, and instead focus on people wanting to protect their community against the klan, was illustrated once again when two people who allegedly made threats to the klan were identified and questioned by law enforcement. One person who was questioned was located in the City of Buffalo, the other in the City of Rochester. Some people reading this might be reluctant to defend the two in question due to the alleged violent nature of their comments towards the klan, or reluctant to label LPD as enablers of racist extremism who make sure neighborhoods like Lewiston remain prime breeding grounds for the klan by targeting those who speak out against them. To drive this point home, we must look at the way in which LPD also treats non-violent anti-racist activists organizing against the klan.
A local organization called SURJ (Showing Up for Racial Justice) attended the Peach Festival the day the klan was claiming to arrive. Although no (visible) klan members were seen by attendees of the festival, SURJ intended to educate the community about dangerous recruitment efforts by white supremacists. They released a statement letting people know they would be in attendance and acting in a fully peaceful capacity. Upon arrival, SURJ was approached by LPD and told they had to leave the festival. It is very revealing of the nature of law enforcement and legal system in the US that a group with a violent history like the KKK would be granted protection by law enforcement under the first amendment, while a group such as SURJ, which is explicitly peaceful, was not given the same first amendment protection while trying to raise awareness about a danger to the community. In an interview with the The Niagara Gazette prior to the festival, a member of SURJ stated “History has shown hate groups can build power if they are ignored. People feel more comfortable looking the other way but that gives them free reign to keep recruiting, and keep terrorizing our communities,” These words ring true at home here as much as anywhere, illustrated to us by the actions and inactions of LPD and dismissals of the collective concern of the community by Chief Previte. Many times over the years we have dealt with racist propaganda appearing in driveways and mailboxes, and when left unchecked these extremist mindsets manifest themselves in incidents of violent hate crimes, like when local neo-nazis attacked a 21 year-old for bringing a black person into their bar in Niagara Falls, or even the many racially motivated mass shootings we have seen in the news cycle far too often. Police and politicians have chosen to remain indifferent to the threat every time it rears it’s ugly head here at home.
What lessons can be drawn from these events and the reaction to them by law enforcement? Let’s summarize what we have learned.
1. Police regularly downplay and ignore right-wing extremism until it is too late. Police will instead choose to focus their attention monitoring and harassing anti-racist activists and community members. This is how police act as an extension of fascist violence.
2. Constitutional rights and laws are not applied the same to all people, and right-wing extremist groups get preferential treatment because their reactionary politics serve to enforce the white supremacist, capitalist, colonial power-structure which is the foundation of this government. This allows right-wing extremist groups to carry out the “dirty work” of the state by targeting the same groups of people that are regularly targeted by police, government, and corporations, mainly people of color, immigrants, LGBTQIA+, poor people, disabled people, and leftists. This is how fascists act as an extension of police and state violence.
3. Police and fascists ultimately have the same interests and the same enemies, (as listed above) and because of this, fascism can never be completely defeated within the bounds of our current system. Our legal system is incapable of addressing the issue at its root. The defeat of fascism requires the abolition of capitalism and the dismantling of institutional white supremacy.
4. Police and the legal system leave very little legal options for resisting fascism, meaning that in certain cases, community self defense is necessary and justified against the threat of fascist violence. Ignoring fascism only allows it to fester and grow. We must be proactive in educating our community against fascist threats and ideology, and be ready to physically defend ourselves when the necessity arises.
For more information about local fascist groups, visit the “Local Far-Right Activity” section of our site. Here you can find much more information on local far-right organizations and their relationship to law enforcement.
To submit a tip about local fascist or far-right extremist activity, contact defend716@riseup.net
Article Submitted by an anonymous contributor.
Defend Buffalo blog has no affiliation with any groups mentioned above, and the views expressed in the article do not necessarily reflect the views of the groups mentioned in the article. This was written with information gathered from public sources and anonymous submissions.