Why do far-right demonstrators gravitate to Howell?
LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — A of protests in Howell has brought a lot of negative attention to the city over the past year, including a where a group of masked individuals waved Nazi flags outside a theater showing of a documentary about white supremacy in Mid-Michigan.
But, why has Howell become a target of protests like these?
Buddy Moorehouse is a local historian who spent decades tracking white supremacist groups as a reporter with the Livingston Daily. He says the whole movement can be tracked down to one man.
'We never had a Klan here, we had one Klansman who died 33 years ago,' says Moorehouse. 'And his ghost is still haunting us today because people think of how, in that way, all because of Bob Miles, it all goes back to him.'
Robert E. Miles moved to mid-Michigan in the 1950s for work—and brought his racist ideology with him. For decades, he hosted far-right leaders from across the country at his Livingston County farm, and he loved the media attention that came with it.
'He was a beloved figure in that movement in the Klan movement. And that included skinheads and Neo Nazis and all the other, you know, far-right people,' says Moorehouse. 'And again, what made him so dangerous is that he was so willing to be out there, and he never shied from publicity.'
Moorehouse says these groups continued to give Howell a bad reputation in the press even after Miles died, and after a rally in the 90s, they learned they could capitalize on that.
'They also rallied in Ann Arbor and they rallied in Lansing, but it was the one in Howell that got all the attention,' says Moorehouse. 'I do firmly 1,000,000 percent believe that the reason they come here is that they know they'll get attention.'
After decades of tracking this issue, Moorehouse says most people in Howell don't share the same beliefs. He says the best thing to do is ignore people who come to town looking for a fight.
'It is a warm, wonderful, welcoming community we have great stores and great people who live here,' says Moorehouse.'I think that the best thing that we could do next time people show up here looking for attention is to ignore them. I wish we had done that when it happened last week that everyone had just ignored them.'
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