Minnesota Town Approves Permit for White-Only Church, Says It s Not Racist
Dec 24, 2020 1:12 AM
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Staff Writer
According to NBC News, a small town in Minnesota has approved a permit to create a white-only church. The Asatru Folk Assembly in Murdock, Minnesota, will open to whites only as it practices its pre-Christian religion, whose roots can be traced back to northern Europe.
While the city council approved the permit, residents of the town have pushed back against the church s creation and gathered 50,000 signatures online expressing their collective dismay over the church trying to make its home in the 280 resident farming town.
UpdatedTue, Dec 22, 2020 at 5:57 pm CT
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The Asatru Folk Assembly, a whites-only church that worships ancient Norse gods, purchased the Calvary Lutheran Church building in Murdock, Minnesota, to use as a regional worship center. (Image via Google Maps)
MURDOCK, MN Officials in a small Minnesota farming town are defending a decision allowing a group that worships ancient Norse gods to open a whites-only church, saying turning down the request would have exposed the city to a costly First Amendment lawsuit.
The city council in Murdock, a 115-mile drive west of Minneapolis, voted 3-1 last week to approve a conditional use permit that allows the Asatru Folk Assembly to use a former Lutheran church as a regional gathering place for followers of the pre-Christianity faith with origins in northern Europe.
By Celine Castronuovo - 12/23/20 11:00 AM EST
An online petition to stop the opening of a church by a whites only religious organization in a Minnesota town has obtained more than 120,000 signatures as of Wednesday.
The petition comes after the city council of Murdock, Minn., earlier this month approved a conditional permit to allow use of a church building bought by the Asatru Folk Assembly.
The Southern Poverty Law Center labels the organization as a “neo-Volkisch hate group” that couches “their bigotry in baseless claims of bloodlines grounding the superiority of one’s white identity.”
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By Wednesday, a Change.org petition seeking to stop the group from occupying the building in the farming town of 280 people had received approximately 122,300 signatures.
Swift County approves patrol contract for Murdock
The Swift County Sheriff s office will dedicate patrol hours to the city of Murdock under an agreement identical to one in place with the city of Kerkhoven. The city of Murdock requested the contract for dedicated patrol hours. 5:55 am, Dec. 19, 2020 ×
The Murdock City Council approved a contract Dec. 9 for dedicated patrol hours from the Swift County Sheriff s Office. The Swift County Board of Commissioners approved the contract at its meeting Dec. 15.
Mark Wasson / West Central Tribune file photo
BENSON The city of Murdock will be contracting with the Swift County Sheriff’s Office to increase the presence of patrols by deputies in the community.
Column: White supremacists should have First Amendment protection chicagotribune.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from chicagotribune.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.