No headline

The city of Whitefish has received an incomplete application for a special event from The Daily Stormer for a proposed Jan. 16 march on Second Street from Memorial Park to City Hall.

City Manager Chuck Stearns said the city received the application by mail on Monday.

“We are still reviewing the application, but we cannot act on an incomplete application,” he said. “We will try to disseminate more information as it becomes available.”

The neo-Nazi website has said it would hold a “James Earl Ray Day Extravaganza” armed march and parade on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in Whitefish from 4 to 7 p.m.

James Earl Ray in 1968 assassinated civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

Since late December, The Daily Stormer has been threatening to hold a march in Whitefish sometime in January. The website also created a call to action last month prompting an online “troll” storm directed at Whitefish businesses and Jewish families.

“If a march were ever to happen, please be assured that the Whitefish Police Department has a critical incident plan in place aimed at ensuring the public safety of our citizens and visitors,” Stearns said last week prior to receiving the application.

Stearns this week said the police department “continues to refine its operational plan” to ensure safety.

Under city regulations, the city manager is authorized to grant or deny applications for a special event permit for events in the city, and “may decline to consider an application for a special event permit, and refer the application to the city council for consideration, if the city manager determines that an application is significant to the public, or might create unnecessary disruption, congestion, controversy or crowding.”

The decision of the city manager can be appealed to the City Council, which can affirm, deny or modify the city manager’s decision, according to city rules.

City Council meets next on Jan. 17.