Application for neo-Nazi march still not filed

Although The Daily Stormer neo-Nazi website is touting a planned march in Whitefish on Jan. 16, the city of Whitefish has not received an application for a special event on that date, Whitefish City Manager Chuck Stearns confirmed Thursday afternoon.

Andrew Anglin of The Daily Stormer on Thursday posted online a copy of his completed application form for a “James Earl Ray Day Extravaganza” to be held in Whitefish as a parade and rally on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It is proposed from 4 to 7 p.m. on Jan. 16, with a march on Second Street from Memorial Park to City Hall. It lists the projected attendance as 200-plus.

James Earl Ray assassinated civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968.

The proposed event — described by Anglin as a march “against Jews, Jewish businesses and everyone who supports either” — initially was announced as a show of support for Sherry Spencer, the mother of white supremacist Richard Spencer. The Spencers live in Whitefish part time, and Sherry Spencer owns a commercial building in downtown Whitefish. She claimed in an online post she was being coerced into selling her building in the wake of national media given to her son, the self-proclaimed founder of the alt-right movement.

Sherry Spencer stated in her article that a real estate agent, who happens to be Jewish, “relayed to me that if I did not sell my building, 200 protesters and national media would show up outside — which would drive down the property value — until I complied.”

That unleashed the ire of neo-Nazi groups, with Anglin prompting a “troll storm” of nasty comments directed at a number of Whitefish businesses and three Jewish families.

According to city of Whitefish rules, the city manager may decline to consider an application for a special event permit, and refer the application to the City Council for consideration, if the city manager determines that an application is “significant to the public, or might create unnecessary disruption, congestion, controversy or crowding.”

An applicant may appeal a decision of the city manager to the City Council, which may affirm, deny or modify the city manager’s decision, city code states.

The City Council’s next meeting is Jan. 17.

Stearns issued an email advisory late Thursday, reiterating that no application has been received by the city for a special event permit for a march on Jan. 16 “or any other date around that time. Therefore, no such permit has been reviewed, approved, or denied.”

He assured the community that the Whitefish Police Department “has a critical incident plan in place aimed at ensuring the public safety of our citizens and visitors.”

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.