Racist Groups Planning Major Event in Kalamazoo

On August 4, 2007, Hal Turner–a New Jersey-based talk radio show host–is planning a “rally against black gang terrorism” in Kalamazoo. The event, which is scheduled to take place at 1:00pm at the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety building at 150 East Crosstown Parkway, is going to feature a number of prominent racists and speakers associated with a number of well-known racist groups including the Ku Klux Klan. Additionally, Michigan racists Randy Gray of the Ku Klux Klan and Christian Identity adherent James Wickstrom will speak. Turner has extended invitations to almost all white supremacist organizations, including well-known groups such as the Aryan Nations, White Revolution, and the National Socialist Movement.

Turner’s event is organized to protest what Turner considers to be rampant “white on black” violence in Kalamazoo. Turner has repeatedly cited an article from the Kalamazoo Gazette (“Homeless man attacked by group of teens” 06/15/07) to assert that there have been fifteen “racial” attacks against whites by African-Americans in Kalamazoo in the past three months. While Kalamazoo police have concluded that the incidents had nothing to do with race (“Residents urged to ignore radio show host’s rally” 07/07/07), Turner and the racist movement to which he is connected are attempting to use the issue as a means of gaining popular support. Materials related to the rally and published by Turner are minimizing their white supremacist agenda and are instead attempting to foster a fear of African-Americans and crime in Kalamazoo.