Huntington Beach is hosting a white supremacy rally on Sunday at the famed coastal community pier, which has become a rallying point for numerous demonstrations over the past year.
The so-called White Lives Matter protest, which was advertised via social media, is one of several such demonstrations scheduled across the country.
Authorities could not confirm with organizers that the protest was taking place, lt. Brian Smith of the City of Police said.
This comes after kites with Ku Klux Klan propaganda were delivered to homes in Huntington Beach, Newport Beach and Long Beach in recent weeks. Police do not believe the same people are responsible for the kites and the protest, Smith said.
The Huntington Beach police station plans to step up its security presence, with mounted units and helicopters on hand, Smith said.
“Every event we have is always the possibility that violence could take place,” he said. “It’s always a concern for us, no matter what the group is or the positions they take.”
The Orange County Sheriff’s Department will provide support to Huntington Beach with its regional unit, said Carrie Braun, a spokeswoman for the department.
“That’s the extent of our involvement at the moment,” she said. “We are monitoring open source information to monitor additional events in our jurisdiction, but at this time we are not aware of it.”
A counter-protest organized by a local grassroots group called Black Lives Matter Huntington Beach was scheduled at 11 a.m. at Pier Plaza.
For years, Huntington Beach has been trying to challenge its reputation as a magnet for right-wing or extremist protests.
These efforts were not helped last year when the city center and the pier in the city became a rallying point anti-masks activists and far-right supporters of then-President Trump.
Huntington Beach, a solid Republican city of nearly 200,000, was wrestle with these issues for decades. In the 1980s and 1990s, racist skinheads wandered around the city and attacked minorities.
Sunday’s event – which arrives after a flurry of Ku Klux Klan flying spread in Huntington Beach and surrounding areas – it raises new demands that the city take deeper steps to shake up its association with right-wing extremism.
The 13:00 rally, organized by the Loyal White Knights, prompted some members of the community to plan counter-demonstrations and to plead with public officials to intervene.
“These groups will keep coming back unless the larger community stands against them,” said Mary Adams Urashima, a resident and historian of Huntington Beach. “Historically, this has always been the case, where the Clan or white supremacy also occurs.”
“I have appealed to everyone and everyone in the city who cares – and there are many people who care,” said Tory Johnson, founder of Black Lives Matter Huntington Beach, about his group’s counter-protest. ‘We must show that Huntington Beach will in no way, shape or form, tolerate more racism. It will not be a reflection of our city. ”
Meanwhile, the Huntington Beach City Council at its meeting this week denounced hate speech and white supremacy. The city also offers a virtualDay of UnityAt the same time as the rally White Lives Matter.
“We can not stop people from coming to the pier, nor can we stop people from hiding behind the 1st Amendment to express hateful rhetoric that is really divided in our community,” said Mayor Kim Carr, “but what we can do is counteract this with these types of events. ”