Great Falls working to counteract hate after white supremacist propaganda spread at library
Great Falls organizations have partnered to stamp out hate in the Electric City following the discovery of White Lives Matter propaganda in at least 18 books in the Great Falls Library earlier this month.
The Montana Human Rights Network confirmed White Lives Matter posted a video of someone placing racist material in books in the library, boasting and then encouraging others to do the same.
The leaflets in the library marks the most recent in a string of anti-semitic and racist propaganda drops in recent months in Great Falls. But local leaders are encouraging the community to stand up to hate, as reported in the Great Falls Tribune.
The material, found in at least 18 books so far, contained anti-semitic and racist imagery involving a gun, and a QR code to encourage those who found it to join an online community. Jake Sorich with the library said the books were largely related to World War II history and genealogy, one of which was “The Rise of Germany: 1939-1941.”
At a recent city commission meeting Library Director Susie McIntyre promoted the “Hate Has No Home Here” campaign in response to the propaganda drop. She said although the library protects intellectual freedom, the library doesn’t allow people to stealthily stick hate messages in books.
“This literature is dangerous and it poses a threat to our community. It ruins people’s lives when they go down that rabbit hole of hate,” McIntyre said. “It’s like joining a cult.”
The Great Falls YWCA was one of several local organizations to partner with the library in the campaign intended to educate vulnerable youth, as well as support impacted communities. Organization CEO Sandi Filipowicz said their mission of eliminating racism aligned with the campaign.
“This isn’t just a flash in the pan reaction,” Filipowicz told the Daily Montanan. “We’re gonna fight this.”
She said the campaign wants the kids these extremist groups are trying to recruit to know there’s other options “and that extreme hatred is not something they should take lightly.” There’s an event planned for January meant to educate community members and youth on hate and extremism in Montana.
During the Dec. 5 commission meeting, Aaron Weissman told the commission he was a “proud Jew” and spoke of his Jewish heritage and the multiple generations of his family living in Great Falls.
“Judaism in Great Falls, Montana, has been here for a very long time,” Weissman said. “I’m here to tell you right now Jews belong in the state of Montana. They belong in Great Falls, Montana.”
Local activist and former Democrat legislative candidate Jasmine Taylor said it’s important the community comes out and admonishes the behavior of those spreading hate in order to quash it.
“They are putting hate literature in our library books that have QR codes, that is not to target people in their 60s, that is to target teenagers and children,” Taylor said.
Great Falls has seen several instances in recent years where white supremacist and antisemitic materials have been thrown on doorsteps or pasted on poles around town.
Filipowicz said the hope with this campaign is to show kids there’s another option than going down the rabbit hole of hate.
McIntyre said cameras in the library are positioned in a way so as to respect the privacy of readers, so there’s no way of knowing who placed the propaganda in the library. She said what they did wasn’t illegal, but was against library policy.
The library and the YWCA are giving out signs reading “Hate Has No Home Here,” which can also be downloaded online. Filipowicz said she’s started to see them put up around town.
“They’re in churches, they’re in homes, their businesses, they’re in agencies, and it just is really gratifying to be able to see those up,” Filipowicz said. “We’ve got so many more positive good people in the community, that we want to keep teaching people how to treat others with respect.”
Nicole Girten is a reporter for the Daily Montanan, a nonprofit newsroom. To read the article as originally published, click here.