A small town in Minnesota has just granted a church in Murdock an conditional use permit to operate a whites-only church in the town.
According to NBC news, the Asatru Folk Assembly, which originated in Northern Europe and allows only white people to practice its religion had the permit approved by the Murdock City Council this month.
The AFA practices a pre-Christian, European spirituality that revolves around Norse gods. According to a statement on the group’s website, it’s pro-white. The Southern Poverty Law Center has added the AFA to its list of hate groups.
The move has sparked a backlash from some residents in Murdock, Minnesota, and prompted critics to launch an online petition seeking to stop the Asatru Folk Assembly (AFA), which so far has drawn more than 123,000 signatures.
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“I think they thought they could fly under the radar in a small town like this, but we’d like to keep the pressure on them,” said Peter Kennedy, a longtime Murdock resident. “Racism is not welcome here.”
“We were highly advised by our attorney to pass this permit for legal reasons to protect the First Amendment rights,” Murdock Mayor Craig Kavanagh said.
Council members, meeting online because of the coronavirus pandemic, kept video cameras turned off and refused to identify who voted for or against the permit.