WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
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Members of Bloomington’s Farmers Market Advisory Board heard two hours of emotional public comment, last night. Many community members are asking the city to ban the proprietors of Schooner Creek Farm from the city’s farmers market.
Schooner Creek Farm proprietors Sarah Dye and Doug Mackey are alleged to be members of Identity Europa, a white supremacist group organization.
As of yet, Dye and Mackey have not incited violence at the market, or distributed threatening materials there. Still many community members of color say the Farmers market feels unsafe to them now.
The Southern Poverty Law Center has identified Identity Europa as one of 24 hate groups operating in Indiana. Members of Identity Europa helped organize the Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, which left one person dead. The White Nationalist group changed its name to American Identity Movement in March of this year.
Evidence of the couple’s ties with the group came in a leaked FBI interview with Nolan Brewer, a 21 year-old Indiana man who vandalized a Carmel synagogue with Nazi graffiti last year. Brewer told the FBI he met with two Identity Europa members, named Sarah and Doug, at Indy Diner, in Martinsville.
Dye was a founding member of the Nashville, Indiana Farmers market and served as board president until she was voted off last month.
IU Labor Studies Professor Joe Varga, wearing a shirt that said “Queers against Fascism,” was among those urging the city to remove the Schooner Creek vendors from Bloomington’s farmers’ market. Early in the meeting, Mayor Hamilton condemned what he called the “odious doctrine of white supremacy.” Hamilton said the city would “vigorously protect against any behaviors that threaten those values.” But he also cited constitutional protections for free speech.
In addition to continued community conversation on the topic, some asked the city to explore more deeply its legal options for prohibiting vendors associated with hate groups. Some people also requested the city make an effort to create more diversity on its advisory council and among market vendors.
The advisory board took no action last night. Board chair Bruce McAlister said the advisory council’s power is limited. The next meeting of the Farmers Market Advisory Council is scheduled for July 15th. You can hear more from last night’s Advisory Council Meeting in tomorrow’s Standing Room Only broadcast, at 6pm.
