full Response to the City of Howell denouncing sage

Hollywood-produced documentary “Face of Hate” about former white supremacist Jasen Barker operating out of Livingston County, was shown free of charge Thursday night at Historic Howell Theater sponsored by SAGE.

Documentarian Steffen Hou (in attendance of the event virtually, along with producer Adam Moyer who attended in person, and Jasen who also attended) followed Jasen for ten years as he found his way out of the white supremacy movement. The film is available on Roku and Amazon Prime globally and is a moving story of redemption, healing and stark realities of local hate. SAGE found it crucial that as many community members as possible see this film and embrace change while facing difficult topics.

In response to the promotion the event titled ‘Breaking Thru Hate' – SAGE received verbal abuse, direct threats of physical violence, and veiled threats against our lives. Unfortunately the city including local leaders & law enforcement have not taken meaningful steps to address the needs of local community members.

There are numerous reports of city officials’ inaction against groups of men waving swastika flags and shouting racial slurs at Livingston County residents. Many of these interactions are recorded on film as the men shouting racial slurs, and in some instances even physically assaulting residents, are free to continue to harass community members. These men bringing hate to Howell are furthermore unwavering and undeterred as many have been identified but fear no consequence.

Following these threats, SAGE worked proactively with concerned citizens who have backgrounds in public safety, emergency management and are trained in de-escalation techniques necessary to ensure safe events. These same individuals exercised their 2nd amendment rights similarly during prior demonstrations attended and praised by city leadership.

Multiple individuals from minority communities requested armed escorts to their vehicles that night, and it is worth noting the majority of SAGE members are of ethnic, religious, sexual orientation and/or gender minorities specifically targeted by those agitated at the documentary’s focus. Informed by past experiences and documented history, our actions prioritized the safety of community members attending the event by relying on constitutional rights.

Under the Michigan Penal Code, a hate crime is defined as when a person or group threatens by word or act and there is reasonable cause to believe the act will occur. Clearly people at this event felt intimidated and afraid as they did at the Anne Frank event. Importantly, we did not have a repeat of what occurred at the Anne Frank event, which garnered nationwide interest with quotes like ‘we hid inside while Nazis were outside’.

Hate crimes must include both bias and hate. The protestors at the Anne Frank event, as well as the free public showing of “Face of Hate” documentary, exhibited both bias and hate. At both events people were afraid; though escorts exercising their 2nd amendment right addressed this issue at the documentary, and the protestors should have been arrested and detained at both events.

A minority veteran and local business owner was caught on camera being assaulted multiple times by neo-Nazis while in front of the police, who did not act. A latina woman and her white husband leaving a restaurant were verbally assaulted on film and the police did nothing. Another Howell resident who is Black was called racial slurs. That’s at least three different BIPOC community members who were racially harassed Thursday night, there may have been more. Folks can clearly see that local law enforcement chose to protect the rights of the neo-Nazis over our marginalized citizens while the most public officials have done is try to smear SAGE and attack the co-founder personally.

The City of Howell’s position and hiring of a public relations firm to show that hate is not a problem here is an emotional reaction potentially shared by many in Livingston county but it lacks logic. Though SAGE is certain white supremacists exist within our community, who they are and where they come from is unimportant if they are coming here and you consider the needs of minority community members worth addressing. The people of Livingston County are encouraged to use logic and evidence against claims that anything is staged or fake. No amount of PR or misdirection will change the facts of what happened and what has been tolerated by the city.

It makes little sense to deny the experiences of your own constituents, but the city must engage in this denial to succeed in its current PR goals. Delegitimizing minority experiences is just as critical to putting its best face forward as claiming the hate exists outside of our community. By denouncing SAGE, the City is explicitly asking Howell residents (and potential tourists) to intentionally ignore the voices of their neighbors at the most risk of experiencing hate.

The City’s stance that hate groups/crimes are worse, or are not being addressed outside of Howell does not justify its inaction. Publicly focusing on producing arguments against addressing this problem is an implicit way to encourage hate groups to grow and thrive. This is clearly not the City’s goal, so SAGE calls on our local leaders to acknowledge missteps and collaborate with SAGE and individuals whose expertise is in addressing racism and white supremacy to create effective, sustainable, and data-informed solutions. Additionally, it is clear that officials missed the important content of ‘Face of Hate’. We call on local leaders to view this Livingston County based documentary on Roku or Prime, reflect on the lessons it provides to our community and take meaningful action in helping us combat the white supremacy movement that is active here.

We consider the theater event to be a huge success and an incredibly powerful step in our community's journey to move past and heal from hate. Our attendees totaled almost 200 people, and our community was able to come together to Face the Hate. There have been many requests for a second screening from folks who were unable to make it Thursday night.

While we are frustrated by the interruption from the protestors and lack of support from local leaders, we want the focus to be on the progress that was made during the event.

Jasen’s story and courage to attend in person for Q&A provided insight on ways we can do better. SAGE is holding important follow up discussions with two of the panelists from Thursday night. We urge local officials to join us for in person workshops on building equitable communities, virtual strategy sessions on combating the active white supremacy, and community led discussions examining the ease of radicalization and what we need to be on the lookout for.