Mary Sanchez
“At a time when hate feels close, we respond not with fear, but with unity. Not with silence, but with resolve.”
The statement was crafted and issued by a synagogue after the murders of two young Jewish adults, employees at the Israeli Embassy in D.C.
Their deaths are personal to Kansas City.
One of the victims, 26-year-old Sarah Milgrim, grew up in a Kansas City suburb. Her family has deep ties to the area. Her family’s synagogue issued the statement shortly after she and her boyfriend were executed after exiting the Capital Jewish Museum.
Then, the white nationalists showed up. She wasn’t even buried yet.
On the Saturday afternoon following the shooting deaths, an assortment of white nationalists, members of the Patriot Front, tumbled out of the back ends of rented U-Hauls in Midtown KC.
They unfurled a wide assortment of American and Confederate flags and paraded through downtown streets, faces covered, chanting nonsense in a desperate attempt to appear tough.
An illogical form of overreaction followed.
Some in Kansas City lost the common sense and rational thought patterns for which the Midwest is known. There were those who immediately reached to blame police, to find fault where none existed. The police didn’t arrest any of the group, which numbered about 150.
The group had kept to the sidewalks, and didn’t really impede traffic, as it was a weekend afternoon. They’re vocal racists, but free speech applies to all.
On social media, people tried to paint law enforcement as akin to the white nationalists. Cops tend to lean conservative, sure. And some police, like members of the military, have been found amongst racist, neo-Nazi and other white nationalist groups.
But to liken the whole department as such, for the reason that police didn’t arrest anyone from the Patriot Front? That’s a huge illogical stretch that says more about those making it, than it reasonably says of police.
Police also made sure that a few counter protesters who heard about the demonstration on social media weren’t drawn into a rumble with the white nationalists.
U-Haul quickly banned those who had rented the vans, for allowing human cargo to be driven around in them. That also would have been the only municipal charge that could have been made against the group.
The Patriot Front didn’t make a statement for why they chose Kansas City for what they later called their annual Memorial Day march. It might not have been the murder of Milgrim, her ties to the area, and her soon-to-be fiance, Yaron Lischinsky.
It might have been to stage their phony patriotism on the steps of the beautiful National WWI Museum and Memorial.
Hate groups are an opportunistic lot. They seek vulnerable, lost souls looking for a cause, people who might be lured in by the circular talk of the leadership’s speeches, heavy with fake bravado.
In the week that followed, it was clear that many people wanted to shout the white nationalists down, the verbal equivalent of showing them who’s boss. There was also a strong desire to send a clear message that the Patriot Front is not welcome in Kansas City.
Cowards became the leading descriptor of the group.
But what now – for Kansas City and the next place this crew shows up in?
There will be a counter rally soon in a favored KC park, likely filled with eloquent speeches of unity, as members of Milgrim’s synagogue called for after her death.
But the real work that could disrupt such hate groups would be for people to be aware – to call out and challenge those who buy into conspiracy theories.
Some of the wives, children, and brothers of those who paraded through town while masked are probably aware, or at least suspicious, of their loved one’s beliefs.
The strongest step might be to intervene when groups like this carve out a new recruit.
We should all be more willing to befriend, speak reasonably, and with an open heart, to someone who might buy into the hatred, someone who is a bit of a lost soul, trying to find a role, a way to be seen or feel important.
Listen for the young man who starts to spew conspiracy theories, beliefs like the idea that immigrants and Jewish people are here to replace white people. Or their mumblings that this is a Christian nation, and that no other faiths are allowed.
Frankly, it’s conservative white people who are most likely to be successful in this, to even be present to hear the diatribe of a new recruit.
Patriot Front showed up in Kansas City without notice.
A lot of people maybe hadn’t heard of them before. After all, white nationalists, paramilitary groups, and neo-Nazis tend to splinter fairly regularly, and form into something aligned, but new.
It’s a lot to follow.
Cutting off their access to pliable mindsets is a challenge for communities, but one that is feasible. We should unite around that goal.
Readers can reach Mary Sanchez at msanchezcolumn@gmail.com and follow her on Twitter @msanchezcolumn.)
