Dayton police are requesting assistance from Toledo as officers from the department in southwest Ohio prepare for a rally at the end of May being planned by a group affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan.
On Tuesday, Toledo City Council unanimously approved a mutual-aid agreement between the two cities’ law enforcement departments that stipulates each will assist the other when requested.
Toledo police Lt. Kevan Toney said the agreement stemmed from an upcoming rally planned in Dayton organized by the Honorable Sacred Knights of Indiana, for which Montgomery County approved a permit in February to rally May 25 at Courthouse Square.
The group will be engaged in “education and public speaking,” according to the activity description on the group’s permit application.
Lieutenant Toney said he believes Dayton police sought assistance from Toledo because of TPD’s experience in handling similar events.
He said he didn’t know exactly what level of assistance Dayton might request; the Dayton Police Department declined to comment.
In 2015, a neo-Nazi rally in downtown Toledo drew hundreds of observers and protesters, and one person was arrested for disorderly conduct. Toledo police also had requested mutual aid from several outlying communities for that event, Lieutenant Toney said.
On Oct. 15, 2005, the same neo-Nazi group visited Toledo and sparked a riot in North Toledo as it planned to march through a mostly black neighborhood. More than 100 people were arrested, and police canceled the rally because of the violence. In the end, four businesses were looted, one was set on fire, and crowds threw bottles, bricks, and rocks at law enforcement officers. Tear gas and wooden pellets were fired in return.
Two months later, about 60 neo-Nazi protesters returned to Toledo, holding an hour-long rally in front of One Government Center downtown. Some 30 people — most of them from out of town — were cited for misdemeanor charges of inciting violence and disorderly conduct.
“When you have larger events or events with the potential for disorder, it’s important for us to keep the peace,” Lieutenant Toney said. “This is common with law enforcement.”
The Southern Poverty Law Center lists the Honorable Sacred Knights of Indiana as a hate group based in Madison, Ind., a city located along the Ohio River between Louisville and Cincinnati.
The group could not be immediately reached for comment.
City leaders in Dayton have vowed to seek an injunction against the group, barring it from conducting any military-style activities during the planned Memorial Day weekend rally. City officials hope a Montgomery County Court judge will declare that the Klan-associated group would be in violation of Ohio law if its members act in a paramilitary fashion.
“Our injunction does not request that the court prohibit the Honorable Sacred Knights from expressing their viewpoint, nor are we attempting to hinder their Second Amendment rights,” Barbara Doseck, the city’s law director, said in March. “Our injunction merely requests that the court ensure the Honorable Sacred Knights do not conduct a military-like rally or cause a public nuisance in downtown Dayton.”
In a letter dated March 19, U.S. Rep. Michael Turner, a Republican and former Dayton mayor, urged city officials to be cautious about holding any sort of counter rally during the group’s planned event.
“While we should take every opportunity to unequivocally condemn these hate groups, I am sure you share my view that everyone should be discouraged from being anywhere near Courthouse Square on that day,” the letter states. “Our community should not have one eye see or one ear hear this group’s hateful message.”
The letter also noted that the Dayton community successfully held an event geared at promoting diversity and inclusiveness the day after a similar Klan march took place in Dayton in 1994.
“We know from our past experience that this unifying approach works,” he wrote.
Federal and local officials met this month in Dayton to discuss how to prevent and respond to hate crimes. The meeting was part of a Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office program, “Improving Modern Police and Community Trust.” Scheduled every other month, the program addresses a current topic of public concern, Montgomery County Sheriff Rob Streck said.
“There’s just a lot of angst out there about the rally that’s coming,” Mr. Streck said. “But talking things through and seeing what’s on people’s minds may help.”
He said people are also questioning their safety in the shadow of past white supremacist rallies, such as the 2017 protest in Charlottesville, Va., when violence erupted between “alt-right” protesters and counterprotesters. White nationalist groups came wearing helmets and matching uniforms, and wielded shields, batons, and clubs. A Toledo man, James Alex Fields, Jr., drove his car directly into a crowd, killing 32-year-old anti-racism protester Heather Heyer. More than 70 people were injured.
“People are always fearful that something could turn violent,” Mr. Streck said.
Staff writer Sarah Elms and Blade news services contributed to this report.
First Published May 1, 2019, 12:47 a.m.
