SAGE Livingston County reacts to criticism from the city
HOWELL, Mich. (WLNS)— The city of Howell hate groups—and a group that fights against hate.
Last week, Stand Against Extremism Livingston County (SAGE) sponsored the screening of a documentary called which explores the history surrounding a white supremacist in Howell. The screening prompted Nazi protestors to show up outside the event.
Last Friday, the city of Howell issued a release stating, 'HATE HAS NO HOME IN HOWELL.'
The release denounced the Nazi protestors, saying 'Howell Community Leadership continues to denounce these messengers of hate, including messages that insinuate hate is tolerated in our community.'
The statement also criticized SAGE, saying the city, 'strongly denounces the SAGE organization for bringing masked, untrained, and armed individuals as 'security' to their event.'
City officials say those actions were irresponsible, but Daniel Wheeler-Pfau, a volunteer with SAGE thinks otherwise.
'We invited individuals,' said Wheeler-Pfau. 'Who were volunteers, who are trained in de-escalation techniques, specifically to address issues such as those that might've come up during those interactions.'
Wheeler-Pfau says they feel like the city is ignoring the actual issue.
'The city is literally saying 'I don't want to listen to this minority group, but we will denounce them.' They're basically saying 'We don't want the voices of minority individuals to be upheld, and to be shared,'' said Wheeler-Pfau.
Julie Ohashi, co-founder of SAGE says she can't believe the city is criticizing them.
'The city's statement made it clear that they have not seen the important content that's in the documentary that we are trying to get out there which is the face of hate. It has unique lessons for our community, specifically on what we can do to improve and be better,' said Ohashi.
Ohashi says local enforcement was present but didn't do too much to protect the people at the event.
'The police were contacted they just sat by and watched,' said Ohashi. 'There was an assault on a minority veteran, who is a Howell business owner. There was a Latino woman who was called an ethnic slur.'
The city's statement says that extremism is a Michigan problem, not just in Howell, but SAGE wants to see more from their local leaders.
''The Face of Hate' clearly proves that we have an active white supremacy issue in Livingston County,' said Ohashi. 'And what are going to do about it? We can't pretend this away.'
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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