Farmers Market Controversies: For the Record

Uncategorized

Dec 25, 2021- Summary of Posts from 2019-2022: A Better Way – Farmers Market Controversy

Recent News:

June 14, 2022. What to know about Sarah Dye, Schooner Creek Farm and the Bloomington Farmers’ Market,  Jill Bond and Carol Kugler, The Herald-Times

June 13, 2022. Herald Times, Above Time Coffee Roasters LLC launched by Sarah Dye by Laura Lane. Note: Laura Lane covered the Farmers Market Controversy from the beginning.  Link to her articles below.  Facebook Post of the Article

June 13, 2022. Schooner Creek Farm owner to launch coffee company _for our people, by our people_ _ news – Indiana Public Media

Wanted: Tolerance, Understanding, Collaboration, Progress
By Tim J. Clark, Updated Jan 21, 2022

For the Record.  In May 2019, Brown County community members were alleged to be  “white supremacists”  which they have repeatedly denied. They are not allowed to participate in the privately operated Nashville Farmers Market and will continue to be a vendor at the Bloomington Farmers Market.  The Bloomington Market is government managed and cannot discriminate against any vendor due to the beliefs and associations that are protected by the First Amendment.

Outline 

  • Status on the current situation
  • Introduction
  • Terms and Definitions
  • Some legal options, Misc
  • Protest Groups – List
  • Background Situation
    • Identity Evropa / American Identify Movement
  • Facebook Group – Brown County Matters – Start of the public controversy 
  • Nashville Farmers Market
  • Bloomington Farmers Market – Local Media, other references

Current Situation

Feb 25, 2020.  WTIU/WFIU.  Parks Board Approves Farmers’ Market Rules For 2020 By Mitch Legan.

  • The board voted 2-1 to adopt the rules after hours of interruptions, yelling and mockery. The proposed rule change was the last of 16 items on Tuesday’s agenda, so activists from the Purple Shirt Brigade and No Space for Hate attempted to prevent the Parks Board from getting to the rules by commenting on every single agenda item beforehand and using their full comment period to do so, even if it meant waiting out the remaining time in complete silence.

Feb 14, 2020. Herald-Times. Schooner Creek Farms sues city, mayor, 2 parks employees  By Laura Lane The Herald-Times

Feb 11, 2020. Competing federal lawsuits brewing over farmers’ market issues By Laura Lane

Feb 2, 2020. Herald-Times.  Produce and protests: Dye to return to farmers’ market; no resolution in sight By Laura Lane.

  • Sherrie Michell – a liberal Democrat and Bernie Sanders supporter was troubled by the vitriol directed at Dye, whom she had never met and whose political views she found disturbing. She reached out, and challenged Dye. The two exchanged long emails. They got to know one another, agreeing on almost nothing.  
  • “She has crazy ideas I disagree with,” Mitchell said. “But I do not think she is a white supremacist. Do I think she is dangerous? No.
    • Sherrie Mitchell – Statement – June 17, 2019 – Farmers Market Advisory Meeting
      • CATS. Video of the meeting.  A few f-bombs, threats, single-finger salutes, and shout-downs by protestors.  Sherrie Mitchell – Statement -“Bigotry” – at 1:00:51
        • Bigotry is prejudice and the state of being intolerant.

Feb 3, 2020. Herald-Times.  “Journalists tell stories even if repugnant” by Rich Jackson, columnist and executive editor. Has never met or talked with Sara Dye:

  • “Trust me. I spent more time than I wanted researching this poison. Sarah Dye is a racist and a white supremacist.” 
  • My response:  “Mr. Jackson – The fact that you have to ask the readers to “trust you” provides a good reason for why they shouldn’t. Make your case and “trust” the readers to arrive at their own conclusions.”

Aug 3, 2019. Herald-Times.  Commentary: Don’t forget the First Amendment, by Laura Lane:

  • “The Herald-Times has published multiple articles on the farmers’ market developments. We have done our own research. We have reviewed court documents, emails, videos and recordings that so many claim is proof that the owners of Schooner Creek Farm are white supremacists. Direct evidence, it isn’t there.” … “  When a news organization publishes a false statement that damages a person’s reputation, that’s libel. I make sure, just about every day, to not libel anyone. Not just because I could be sued, but because it’s important that the information we report be accurate. We cannot and do not print accusations that can’t backed up with tangible stand-up-in-court proof.”

A Facebook comment regarding the recent actions and the behavior of the protestors: “Bloomington Farmers Market Purple Thought Police – As a politically correct aware liberal, I am saddened and disgusted by the uniformed protesters harassing the “bad” people at Schooner Farms. The market has been one of my very favorite things about summer in Bloomington, but I stayed away and didn’t go once this year. The protesters are committing a grave cognitive error in harassing these people – the protesters believe they are “Right”. It’s necessary to point out injustices of course, but this has turned into a meaningless joke. This is where PC flips over into Lord of the Flies, and the purple shirts have become the very thing they’re protesting against.  This is the first time I’ve personally witnessed the beginning of Orwell’s Thought Police, and it is freaking scary …”

Introduction

This post includes background information and context on the issues.  Information provided also includes Facebook comments on Brown County Matters and other sites, dissemination of the allegations from local media and links to video of meetings held by the Farmers Market Advisory Committee and Bloomington Parks Commission.

It is often said that “perception is the reality.” Perceptions are derived from facts, observations, and opinions.   On facts, I tried to identify the direct source to include footnotes.  On perceptions, protestors, activists, and media can use terms in allegations and articles that are inflammatory and not footnoted to explain how they arrived at their conclusion. On this topic, terms include neo-nazi, nazism, nazi brethren, fascism, fascist, white nationalist, white supremacy, racism, violence, hate, alt-right, et.al.

Terms and Definitions, Misc

Terms and Definitions 2019_06_28  – includes the terms that are referenced relative to this issue.   Other terms relative to a legal discussion or when conducting an analysis of events.

  • White supremacy or white supremacism is the racist belief that white people are superior to people of other races and therefore should be dominant over them.  The term is also typically used to describe a political ideology.  In academic usage, the term “white supremacy” can also refer to a political or socio-economic system, in which white people enjoy a structural advantage (privilege) over other ethnic groups, on both a collective and individual level. (Wikipedia)
  •  White privilege.  “In the case of white privilege, there are a number of variables which, together, better explain differences in group outcomes. Moreover, there is a bevy of countervailing evidence that calls its validity into question. This is not to suggest that racial discrimination cannot or does not play a role in differential outcomes. Nor is it to suggest that privileges do not exist in some form or another. Where you live and who your parents are can be privileges. But to posit white privilege as the only or a predominant explanation for differences in group outcomes is, based on the empirical evidence, incorrect and irresponsible.”  Reference:  Why White Privilege Is Wrong—Part 1 – Quillette

Some Legal Options:

Misc:

  • National Trends on the Topic:  A broader discussion from opposing perspectives on the topics of Nationalism, Culture, Racism
  • Aug 8, 2019. The Atlantic. Trump’s White Identity Politics Appeals to Two Different Groups By  David A. Graham
    • White identity is an in-group attitude. There isn’t necessarily a strong relationship between feeling favorable toward one’s own racial group and strongly disliking members of other racial groups. Many white identifiers aren’t especially racially prejudiced in the classical sense.
  • Prejudice and Bigotry.  The definition of bigotry is prejudice and the state of being intolerant.”  Prejudice is a word often used to refer to a preconceived, usually unfavorable, evaluation of another person based on that person’s political affiliation, sex, gender, beliefs, values,  religion, race/ethnicity, language, nationality ….
    A bigot  is a person who is prejudiced, or intolerant of those who are different.”

  • I’m a Black Feminist. I Think Call-Out Culture Is Toxic. NYT, By Loretta Ross.  There are better ways of doing social justice work.
  • Nationalism (patriotism) vs Globalism (TED Talk). The Olympics are an example; Survey of 89K people in 60 countries – 85% of respondents are very proud or quite proud of their countries. Pride correlates to life satisfaction. Transcript.
    • In contrast: American comedian George Carlin on the topic of pride in ethnicity remarked: “I could never understand national pride, I could never understand ethnic pride. Because to me, pride should be reserved for something you achieve or attain on your own, not something that happens by accident of birth.”  

  • Tolerance of a position IS NOT ACCEPTANCE of that position or acceptance in a belief that any situation cannot be improved!   On the Paradox of Tolerance – “Karl Popper’s Paradox of Tolerance has gotten a lot of attention lately.  … Maybe we’d like to tolerate intolerant views, but isn’t that risky?”  

    • Karl Popper: I do not imply, for instance, that we should always suppress the utterance of intolerant philosophies; as long as we can counter them by rational argument and keep them in check by public opinion, suppression would certainly be unwise.
    • Prager University. A liberal explaining why tolerance is a conservative value

Protests Groups – Facebook Pages

Background Situation

A long-time Brown County community member, with a successful small business and young family – who has no criminal record or been accused of a crime, has recently acknowledged that she was a member of Identity Evropa (IE). IE has been disbanded and a former IE leader created a new group called American Identity Movement (AIM) in March 2019 (Wikipedia).

  • “Identity Evropa describes itself as “a generation of awakened Europeans who have discovered that we are part of the great peoples, history, and civilization that flowed from the European continent.”   (1) Ref: Newsweek. “Unite the Right Organizer disavowed by Family After Charlottesville Violence.”
  • Identify Evropa and AIM are identified as a white supremacist organization by the Anti-Defamation League and is designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group. (Wikipedia).

The community member and her husband met with 21-year-old Nolan Brewer. Brewer was sentenced on Monday, May 20, 2019 … ” to three years in prison for spray-painting anti-Semitic graffiti and lighting fires outside a Carmel synagogue on July 28, 2018,  that was described as an act of vandalism. (1)

FBI Interview. The current controversy evolved from an FBI transcript of an interview of Nolan Brewer.   During his FBI interview on August 15, 2018, Brewer stated he met a couple named Sarah and Douglas (after he committed the crime)  at a family restaurant in Martinsville.  He stated he met them through Identity Evropa and he identified Sarah as Volkmom in a Discord server (chat room).    

  • FBI Interview Nolan Brewer Aug 15, 2018  pages 42-58
  • The text messages obtained from Discord by Unicorn Riot included 435 messages.  The discussions involved a variety of topics to include families, education, culture, politics, race, finance.
  • In his interview, Brewer stated the couple had no knowledge of his crime and did not associate them with any act of violence.  His statement included the following:
    • He stated that “they were extremely nice.”
    • He also stated that Identity Evropa instructed members not to attend the Unite the Right 2 rally held on August 12, 2018.
    • When asked about the violent tendencies of  Identity Evropa members that he knew about, he stated that “there ‘s always a couple of poisoned skittles to ruin the bowl …” and further remarked “my wife and I are trying to stick away from those now … “
    • He also stated his opinion on Identity Evropa’s (IE) belief system:
      • “It’s just to be proud that you’re European. it’s, it’s an identitarian movement, it’s nothing political.”
      • “It’s just your European, be proud of who you are, take care of your family.”
    • After being shown a crime scene photo which included NAZI symbols, Brewer remarked that “IE would not consider that acceptable” and his membership would be revoked  (p.55)

May 27, 2019. Patrick Casey (Former IE leader), Statement on Nolan and Kiyomi Brewer (Twitter):  Mrs. Brewer joined Identity Evropa in early August 2018 – after the crime (vandalism at a Carmel synagogue that occurred in July 2018).  (Mr. Brewer was never a member; his claims to the contrary presumably stem from the incorrect assumption that his wife’s approved application conferred to him as well).

Volkmom has also published videos on Youtube on the topics that include herbs, the medicinal benefit of herbs, gardening, recipes, and nutrition.

  • In Episode 1 – Yarrow (herb), at the 2:10 mark,  in addition to the benefits of Yarrow, Volkmom defined Alt-right as “essentially being rooted in what is natural and biological.” She expressed pride in “my people, my folk, my blood, my ancestors” and expressed her belief that “race is sacred.”
    • Note: The definitions in the online dictionaries for Alternative- Right (alt-right) generally describe individuals with extreme and violent views. Wikipedia describes it as “a loosely connected far-right, white nationalist movement. The term is ill-defined, having been used in different ways by various groups and individuals.”  
  • Pride in ethnicity is common throughout the world. Ethnicity defined as: of or relating to large groups of people classed according to common racial, national, tribal, religious, linguistic, or cultural origin or background (Merriam-webster).
  • Another term used in many of the videos is hail (not heil). Hail defined as
    to cheer, salute, or greet; welcome.
  • I found the videos of high quality and informative on the various herbs, recipes, nutrition, and respective healing attributes.

Local media has reported Sarah Dye and Douglas Mackey were the individuals referenced in the FBI Interview. They are owners of Schooner Creek Farm.

Sara Dye is no longer on the board of the Nashville Farmers Market (a non-profit organization) and is also not allowed to be a vendor reportedly due to safety concerns.

  • The Nashville Farmer’s Market is a nonprofit that is located on the parking lot of the privately-owned Brown County Inn.   A private entity is not required to provide the same first amendment protections that are required to be supported by the City of Bloomington’s Farmer’s Market.  The Nashville Farmer’s Market is responsible for providing a safe environment for everyone.
  • Sarah Dye – Facebook post – on her removal from the market
  • June 12, 2019. Herald-Times Bloomington, In. White supremacist allegations follow market farmers By Kurt Christian The Herald-Times.  Includes statement from the President of the Nashville Farmers Market Board.

There was a petition (June 2019)  to deny their participation in the Bloomington Famers Market – which is associated with the city government. The Parks and Recreation Department issued the following statement in a response to a petition :

  • “To our knowledge, this vendor has not shared these views at Market and has treated customers with respect,” said Marcia Veldman, program/facility coordinator for Bloomington’s Parks and Recreation Department, in an email response to Ang.
  • “The City is constitutionally prohibited from discriminating against someone because of their belief system, no matter how abhorrent those views may be. The City may only intercede if an individual’s actions violate the safety and human rights of others.”

Identity Evropa and American Identity Movement (AIM)

Identity Evropa’s founder, Nathan Damigo was convicted of a misdemeanor and charged with a $100.00 penalty for his actions at a rally in Charlottesville, VA where one person was killed and 19 were hurt.

  • Wikipedia, Unite the Right Rally Aug 11-12, 2017 – Charlottesville, VA
  • Steve Cortes, CNN political analyst, and columnist RealClear Politics,  – The Charlottesville Lie.  Did President Trump call neo-Nazis “very fine people” during a famous press conference following the Charlottesville riots of August 2017? The major media reported that he did. But what if their reporting is wrong? Worse, what if their reporting is wrong and they know it’s wrong? A straight exploration of the facts should reveal the truth. 
  • Identify Evropa was among the groups that filed a lawsuit against the city of Charlottesville for failure to allow them  to engage “in political speech and expressive activities.”  The lawsuit was dropped in Feb 2019.

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) (1) has reported that Identity Evropa (IE) leader Patrick Casey said on Twitter that the organization “has been retired.” “Casey says he is now launching a new organization, the America Identity Movement (AIM).  

  • March 12, 2019.  Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).  White Nationalist Group Identity Evropa Rebrands Following Private Chat Leaks, Launches ‘American Identity Movement’
    • On the evening of March 8th, 2019, Patrick Casey announced the formation of a new, nationalist organization. Our organization, American Identity Movement, is indeed a new non-profit institution engaged in peaceful activism and networking under the sole ownership of President Casey. Mr. Casey has retired from all activity unrelated to American Identity Movement.
  • AIM Website:
    • American Identity Movement is a non-profit activist and fraternal organization founded on March 8, 2019, by Patrick Casey.
    • Our worldview is best summarized by our five principles: nationalism, identitarianism, protectionism, non-interventionism, and populism.  AIM’s efforts are twofold: activism and fraternity. 
    • AIM prohibits the advocacy of or participation in supremacy, violence, or illegal activity. We reject extremism of any stripe. Allegations to the contrary originate from left-wing individuals and organizations intent on mischaracterizing anyone who dares speak out against globalism.

(1) The credibility of the SPLC has been questioned by many sources.  Another non-profit involved in this area is the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

The FBI- Hate Crime Unit is the source of hate crime information.  “Hate crimes are the highest priority of the FBI’s Civil Rights program due to the devastating impact they have on families and communities. The Bureau investigates hundreds of these cases every year and works to detect and deter further incidents through law enforcement training, public outreach, and partnerships with community groups.”

Given probable cause, the FBI does have access to digital and phone records and the appropriate technology, software,  and resources to assess the respective situation to include the development of an overall threat assessment which I assume they share with local law enforcement.

Facebook Group – Brown County Matters (BCM) – Timeline
Matters that “matter” to the citizens of Brown County

The Brown County Democrat has not published a story on this topic.

  • WFHB – Volunteered Powered / Community Radio has chosen to publish the allegations as has the Herald-Times Online (HTO, the Indiana Daily Student (IDS) and WFIU/WTIU.

May 29 at 5:38 PM Tim.J.Clark to Brown County Matters,   Admins agreed to delete a post that was a personal attack on a non-government official in the county who then responded and denied the allegations. We were then accused of siding with the person being attacked and supporting what is considered to be an extremist position. The attack was then re-posted, the allegations were again denied, and the post deleted. The individual informed me that he was opting out of the site and was then removed, he re-joined, re-posted on the same topic and this post was deleted. … Matters is not the site to go on record of disagreeing with someone in the community that (if true) may have an opposing view regardless of how offensive.

May 29, 2019  at 5:38 PM  Anders Jorgensen to Brown County Matters Who’s taking the posts down? What is your justification for doing so? This is a relevant discussion that *matters* to Brown County. People should be able to look for themselves and decide what they are…

Nashville Farmers Market

June 1, 2019.  Patricia Krahnke shared link – Brown County Democratic Party. . .  ICYMI Petition to remove suspected white supremacists from Nashville farmers market leadership until they can be cleared of association with Identity Evropa.

June 2, 2019 10:23 a.m. Tim.J.Clark to Brown County Matters  Excellent article that Sherrie Mitchell shared previously that distinguishes the difference between tolerance, acceptance, and understanding. Tolerance is a virtue that is a basis for First Amendment protections. Just because you have tolerance for a situation does not mean you accept it. Dialogue can lead to understanding and a higher probability of positive change. Ref:  Feb 25, 2014. Psychology Today, by Jefferson M Fish Ph.D.  Tolerance, Acceptance, Understanding

  • “The aim of the U.S. system of government is to enable “We the People” through the Bill of Rights to work together towards a more perfect Union (and county). Actions motivated by love lead to actions that produce results where we all win or at least are not any worse off in the long-term.”

June 3, at 10:40 AM  Paul Navarro to Brown County Matters Our Constitution guarantees “innocent until proven guilty”. In my personal opinion, one person’s ideas do not constitute a hate group.  While constructive ideas and concerns are always welcome and encouraged on this page, it is our policy not to allow personal defamation of individual members on this Facebook page.  Members who find it necessary to indulge in this can use their own Facebook pages to do so.

June 4, 2019, at 2:26 PM. Kevin Fleming to Brown County Matters .. …Martin Luther King when he said only acts of love can drive out hate.  “A Prominent American Hate Group Just Collapsed Because of an Affair”…

June 13, 2019.  Kyle Birkemeier shared a link .  “see.. i didnt make this up as ive been accused and its an actually community issue, effecting our town and its image beyond our borders. Is bc matters going to eat crow and admit this is an issue worth discussing or stick to their threats of law suits and accusations that were a pack of wild dogs out to get these innocent neonazis? like i said when i first posted this info, its valid and this story is going to be bigger. Responsible members of our community are concerned actually concerned about neo nazis organizing here. And it should be discussed.”  Ref: White supremacist allegations follow market farmers

Bloomington Farmers Market
Local Media – Other References

May 14, “2018.” Initial incident at the Bloomington Farmers Market.   IDS, Blotter: Fight at Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market by Cameron Drummond.  “Police said a group of four to five people, including Cast, started harassing a vendor at the market.  … Police arrested 30-year-old Joseph A. Cast for disorderly conduct, criminal mischief, robbery, theft and battery as a result of the incident. ”

June 3, 2019. WFHB Volunteered Powered / Community Radio,  South Central Indiana.  Petitions Allege White Supremacist Ties to Farmer’s Market Vendor.

The petition submitted by Abby Ang  (1) alleges the individuals are connected to the White supremacist movement, Identity Evropa, and encourages both the Bloomington Farmer’s Market and the Nashville Farmer’s Market to ban them.

  • Petition.
    • It’s been known for a long time in our community that the owners of Schooner Creek Farm are members of Identity Evropa…. “One of the owners …  has posted on Discord”  
  • Activity Allegations. Emily of State on Twitter.
    • Extracts from court documents obtained via Buzzfeed of the FBI interview with Nolan Brewer with comments from Emily of State.
    • Source of the Court Documents: BuzzFeed, Inc. —  an American Internet media company based in New York City,
      • Buzzfeed published a story that they later corrected – Buzzfeed Blames Ben Shapiro for Synagogue Attack, Rabbi Responds …  BuzzFeed News is under fire for publishing an outrageous article that claimed conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro – along with FOX News and Breitbart – radicalized a white nationalist who pleaded guilty to defacing a synagogue in Carmel, Indiana with Nazi symbolism.

(1)  “Abby Ang, a Ph.D. student in the Department of English. A native of Rhode Island and first-generation Chinese American, Ang co-founded the IU English Grad Solidarity Coalition. The coalition is the first in the department to advocate for the needs of underrepresented students, including students of color, international students and the LGBTQ+ community, and the promotion of solidarity in and across the department.”  (Reference Jan 15, 2018, IU Bloomington faculty, staff and students recognized for commitment to service and leadership.

March 6, 2019.  Neo-Nazi Hipsters Identity Evropa Exposed In Discord Chat Leak By Chris Schiano and Freddy Martinez, Unicorn Riot. Unicorn Riot is releasing more than 770,000 messages from chat servers associated with Identity Evropa. This is the first report in a series about this large US-based neo-Nazi organization. 

  • DISCORD. The Discord chat server used to coordinate Identity Evropa’s activities is called ‘Nice Respectable People Group’.

March 8, 2019. Daily Beast,  ‘Whiter Every Election Cycle’: How Identity Evropa, a Far-Right Hate Group, Joined the GOP …. According to leaked chat logs, the white-supremacist group has actively reinvented itself as a ‘respectable’ group in order to entice Republicans  by Kelly Weill

ANTIFA (Anti-Fascists) – with help from Hoosier Anti-Racist Movement (HARM)

Fascism: A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, a capitalist economy subject to stringent governmental controls, violent suppression of the opposition, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism. … A political philosophy or movement based on or advocating such a system of government. American Heritage Dictionary

  •  BY PANIC IN THE DISCORD  Sarah Dye, aka Volkmom, Fascist at Schooner Creek Farms from Nashville, Indiana

June 12, 2019. Indiana Daily Student (IDS), Letter alleges white supremacists sell at farmers’ market.  By Ellen Hine. Some claim local farmers Sarah Dye and Douglas Mackey are members of the hate group Identity Evropa.  Schooner Creek Farm has been a vendor at the Bloomington Farmers Market for over nine (9) years. Extracts:

  • “To our knowledge, this vendor has not shared these views at Market and has treated customers with respect,” said Marcia Veldman, program/facility coordinator for Bloomington’s Parks and Recreation Department, in an email response to Ang. “The City is constitutionally prohibited from discriminating against someone because of their belief system, no matter how abhorrent those views may be. The City may only intercede if an individual’s actions violate the safety and human rights of others.”
  • In response to this article: June 24, 2019. National Vanguard, Indiana: Pro-White Farmers Threatened, Persecuted by Jewish-Funded Leftists by
     Rosemary W. Pennington

June 12, 2019. HTO, Bloomington, In. White supremacist allegations follow market farmers By Kurt Christian The Herald-Times.  The owners of Schooner Creek Farm are facing renewed allegations of white supremacist beliefs a week after being forced out of the Nashville farmers market. A petition outlining why the Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market should also cut ties is gaining traction.

  • Bloomington resident Abby Ang sent a letter to the city’s market advisory council June 4 alleging that Nashville-based Schooner Creek Farm owners Sarah Dye and Doug Mackey are members of a neo-Nazi and white supremacist hate group.
  • Nashville Farmers Market – – Comments from President Kara Hammes:
    • The board received materials supporting the allegations and heard “unpleasant rumors” this past spring, Hammes said. But the board didn’t feel it had enough evidence until the members reviewed copies of social media posts, FBI depositions, online conversations and a white supremacist YouTube video posted under the name Volkmom with “what we could all clearly identify as her (Dye’s) voice.”
    • Laura Lane – Bloomington Herald-Times, article  “Commentary: Don’t forget the First Amendment”, states:  “The Herald-Times has published multiple articles on the farmers’ market developments. We have done our own research. We have reviewed court documents, emails, videos and recordings that so many claim is proof that the owners of Schooner Creek Farm are white supremacists. Direct evidence, it isn’t there.” … “

June 17, 2019, The Bloomingtonian, Jeremy Hogan. Anti-fascism urged at farmers’ market advisory committee meeting

June 18, 2019.  WTIU/WFIU. Bloomington Unlikely To Boot Alleged White Supremacist From Farmer’s Market  by Adam Pinsker. The uproar began several weeks ago when transcripts from an FBI interview with Nolan Brewer were published.  ….   Brewer, a self-described white supremacist, pleaded guilty to vandalizing a synagogue in Carmel last year.  He told agents he communicated with Sarah Dye, a Brown County woman who has a booth at the Bloomington market. … Dye’s name has also been linked to a white supremacist website.

June 18, 2019, Indiana Daily Student (IDS), ‘If they get power again, I’m gone’: Bloomington reacts to farmers’ market white supremacist allegations by Ellen Hine. A week of anger and controversy culminated at the Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market Advisory Council meeting Monday night in City Hall. .. Mayor John Hamilton addressed the crowd at the start of the meeting, reading a statement that was also posted on Facebook.

  • “The City will not tolerate any vendor displays or behaviors at the market inconsistent with that fundamentally welcoming environment. We will vigorously protect against any behaviors that threaten those values.”

June 25, 2019.  Meeting – Bloomington Board of Park Commissioners.  The board modified their agenda to allow for comments (2-3 minutes) regarding the issues with the Farmers Market.  The board chair outlined the protocol and guidance for providing comments and reinforced the rules that with minor exceptions, were honored by the audience.

They stated that they did review the video from the advisory committee meeting on June 17.  New allegations were made that the vendor did promote their beliefs at the market and demonstrated actions that made individuals feel unwelcome.  The individuals acknowledged that they did not file a formal complaint with the market.

A statement by the Commissioners is expected by July 23, 2019. The Commissioners are also supporting a Community Forum on the issues – date TBD. The Forum to be facilitated by the  Community and Family Resources Department.

June 25, 2019.  Indiana Public Media WTIU, WFIU. City Faces More Backlash On Farmer’s Market Vendor

  • WFIU – Facebook Post Members of the Bloomington Community and Family Resources office say they’ll host a forum sometime over the next few weeks after several vendors said they didn’t feel safe at the downtown farmers market.

July 2, 2019. WTIU/WFIU Committee Considering Next Steps In Schooner Creek Farm Controversy By Barbara Brosher .  …    the market advisory board plans to have a formal response to citizen feedback by its July meeting. McCallister – says the city is also planning a July 11 forum in response to the controversy. 

July 2, 2019. Facebook Post – Sarah Dye, Schooner Creek Farm.   The Nashville Farmer’s Market, which I helped found in 2017, removed me as Board President and also removed our farm as a vendor in early June. If you have any opinions about the 3 board members’ decision to do so, please feel free to let them know by emailing nashvillefarmersmarket@gmail.com …. Sarah Dye They have yet to respond with a grounds for removal request by an attorney.

July 8, 2019. WTIU/WFIU.  Schooner Creek Owner Requests Restraining Order Against Activist

  • Facebook Post.  Sarah Dye told Judge Frank Nardi that Thomas Westgard is engaged in an “ongoing, routine effort of harassment” against her.
  • Facebook Post -Judge Denies Schooner Creek Owner’s Request For Restraining Order

July 8, 2019. WTIU/WFIU. Bloomington To Host Farmers’ Market Forum In Response To Controversy The panel discussion will be from 6 to 7:30 p.m. (Thursday, July 11) in the City Hall council chambers. Panelists will include community organizer Abby Ang, Indiana University Maurer School of Law Professor Jeannine Bell, IU Maurer School of Law Professor Emeritus Dan Conkle and ACLU of Indiana Executive Director Jane Heneger. 

July 11, 2019.  Press Release: City to Host Farmers’ Market Panel Discussion Thursday

July 15. 2019.  Indiana Student Daily (IDS) Legal scholars, activist discuss farmers’ market legal issues, inclusivity.   Bell, Conkle and Henegar agreed the city could not legally remove a vendor for its beliefs or affiliation with hate groups. Henegar said if a municipality tried to remove vendors for their beliefs, it could face a lawsuit from the ACLU. 

July 17, 2019. Daily Beast.  In public they sell organic vegetables. In private they join white supremacist groups. Now activists are pushing back. By Kelly Weill. Local activists mentioned:

  • “Joseph Varga, a labor studies professor at the nearby Indiana University”
  • Abby Ang – “a Bloomington community organizer,”  and also an IU faculty member

July 20, 2019. “No Space for Hate”

  • The slogan (supported by the Bloomington Mayor in a photo op) by those opposing Schooner Creek Farm’s (SCF) participation at the market is “No Space for Hate.“
  • Masked and black-clad individuals  (alleged to be associated with Antifa formed in proximity to the SCF booth.
  • The city police adequately respond to the situation.
  • Where are the stories from local media (WFIU/WTIU, IDS, Bloomingtonian, Herald-Tribune Online) unmasking the individual members of these groups, and their alleged supporters, affiliations, and advocacy for violence?

July 23, 2019. Facebook Page – Allen for Monroe County.  Discussion regarding the masked, black-clad group.

  • A statement as to why this post was deleted.  “This afternoon I deleted the Farmers Market post. It simply got so out of hand with vicious comments and even some people resorting to threats against their fellow citizens. I do not support or condone any type of violence

July 27, 2019.   A protestor holding a  sign at the market was detained briefly by the Bloomington Police Department (BPD) for refusing to move.   Other protestors are calling for a boycott of the market.

July 27, 2019. Herald-Times Online. Farmers market turns from tranquil to tense By Kurt Christian and Laura Lane.  It was a peaceful and not-too-hot Saturday morning at the Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market, until tempers flared around the booth of a Brown County vegetable vendor some charge with supporting white supremacy.

The 10:45 a.m. incident near the Schooner Creek Farm booth in the center of the sprawling market outside City Hall featured offensive language, shouting, threats and the arrest of a woman charged with violating market regulations by carrying a protest sign near the booth.

July 28, 2019. Bloomingtonian, Protester arrested, Three Percenters at Farmers’ Market, by Jeremy Hogan.    Facebook Post of the article

Includes video interviews of Gary Weddell of the Three Percenters and local activist Forest Ian Gilmore.  Gary Weddle stated that he met with the local leader of Antifa, shared views, and shook hands.

July 29, 2019. WTIU/WFIU.  Video: IU Professor Arrested After Demonstration At Farmer’s Market by Adam Pinkser  Facebook Post of the article

July 29, 2019. Herald Times – Facebook Post “Trespass charges dropped in farmers’ market arrest”

  • “Under the specific facts and circumstances of this case, we determined that no further action was necessary,” Monroe County Deputy Prosecutor Jeff Kehr said in an email.

July 29, 2019.

July 30, 2019. WTIU/WFIU. BPD Clarifies Farmers’ Market Rules After Arrest Of IU Professor By Emma Atkinson.  Facebook Post of the article

  • IU professor Cara Caddoo was arrested Saturday at the market for holding a sign and refusing to move to a designated protest area away from Schooner Creek Farms’ booth.  “…the protestor was informed that if she failed to relocate, she would be placed under arrest for Criminal Trespass,” the release says. “[Caddoo] again stated that she was not willing to move, so she was taken into custody.”
  • “A copy of the market’s “Long-Standing Rules of Behavior” dated June 27, 2019, says signs and distribution of literature is permitted beyond market boundaries and only in two places within the market: on Plaza One A on the B-Line Trail and along 8th Street on Information Alley.”

Jul 30, 2019.  Graffiti On Building Behind Bloomington Farmer’s Market Removed By Adfam Pinsker.  Bloomington Police say someone spraypainted “Schooner Creek Farm Are Nazis” on the side of the old Johnson Creamery. … BPD Captain Ryan Pedigo says vandals spraypainted the phrase in eight places on the side of the building facing the farmer’s market. It was first reported around 7:00 a.m. Saturday.  Facebook Post of the article.

July 31, 2019. Mayors Press Conference.  Remarks on the Farmers’ Market Future

  • First is gun control. Let me state the obvious — when conflict and tension are present in public gatherings, it is dramatically more difficult to protect public safety when firearms and other weapons are also present and pervasive.
  • Second is a toxic stew of bigotry and hatred, of intolerance and divisiveness, that is being brewed by many, all across the country, including our own President. I am ashamed, agitated, and angered, I’m furious, that coming from our White House are messages of bigotry and racism — we cannot hesitate to say so — that seek to affirm and foment those deep and dangerous parts of humanity, parts that civilization and enlightenment and progress work so hard to improve.

July 31, 2019. Indianapolis, IN  FOX59. Controversial Bloomington farmers’ market vendor denies white supremacy accusations

  • “The vendor at the center of the farmers’ market controversy in Bloomington denies all ties to white supremacy.”
  • “As an Identitarian and an American, I am disgusted at the level of lies, misinformation, falsehoods, and intimidation by those who do not know me or my family,” said Dye.  Identitarian is widely defined as a far-right group that campaigns against immigration. Dye defined it as, “a way of viewing the world that emphasizes the importance of identity.”

Aug 1, 2019.  Bloomingfoods. This is a private temporary market hosted by Bloomingfoods and self-organized by market vendors, by invitation only. Schooner Creek Farm has not been invited to attend. All vendors must be accepted by the MCGA, as noted in the press release above. (Private businesses do not have to honor the first amendment and are subject to boycotts as well for failure to do so.)

Aug 2, 2019. WFIU – Noon Edition  – Panel Discussion

    • Marcia Veldman – Directory Bloomington Farmers Market. The city will likely add more security precautions … cameras ….
    • Jim Sims – Member, City Council At-Large, past president, Monroe County NAACP, member many community social groups – broader concerns regarding safety to the community,  to … churches,  …. can’t ban guns (2nd Amendment and State laws)
      • Sarah Dye did not violate any laws or market rules
      • Mr. Sims mentioned the legal liability and cost (5-6 figures) for the city if they violate an individual’s civil rights
    • Steve Sanders – Associate Professor – IU Maurer School of Law
      • Key Point — Basing “allegations” on links is irresponsible and McCarthyistic (37:00~)
      • Referenced statements from a report posted on “No Space for Hate.”  This report included statements made in the FBI interview of Brewer that does not address the complete context for the statements.  (54:30).
    • Elizabeth Mitchell – Bloomington Historian. Asked if there is any undeniable proof — none mentioned – best the moderators could do was mention “links” that the law professor stated was irresponsible … guilt by association (**)

** Guilt by Association is referred to as Association Fallacy” which “is an informal inductive fallacy of the hasty-generalization or red-herring type and which asserts, by irrelevant association and often by appeal to emotion, that qualities of one thing are inherently qualities of another. ” Wikipedia

August 3, 2019.  WTIU/WFIU.  New, Temporary Farmers’ Market Opens In Bloomington By Adam Pinsker.  Organizers say more than 50 vendors were present Saturday at a private farmer’s market hastily set up after the Bloomington market was suspended for two weeks. … Bloomingfoods says it invited vendors who were left stranded by the cancellation of the Bloomington market, to set up in the old K-Mart parking lot on 3rd street Saturday morning.

  • WFIU/WTIU – Facebook Post of the article and my comment
  • Clarifying Comment  Steve Sanders I will weigh in to clarify the above description of what I said on Noon Edition. Sarah Dye calls herself an “Identitarian” and has posted on a server used by the Identity Evropa group. So there is no question she has affiliated herself with white nationalist/supremacist politics and ideology. That is not a crime and, in itself, cannot get her ejected. The point I was trying to make on the radio was: So what is it proper to infer from that? Those advocating her ejection from the market have strongly implied that such ties are tantamount to endorsing (if not actually planning) violence, extreme forms of Nazism, etc., and have also implied she is somehow complicit in the Carmel synagogue vandalism because she had dinner with the perpetrator. That’s the guilt by association I was talking about. My point was that “affiliations” and “linkages” can be ambiguous and that it is irresponsible to use them to imply the worst possible meaning in the absence of proof of exactly what someone believes or seeks to accomplish. I’m a Democrat, but that doesn’t mean I automatically embrace what every leader of the party stands for. So in short, there is good evidence Sarah Dye has done things to affiliate herself with white supremacist groups, but the meaning of that affiliation for her, and the exact nature and contours of her own beliefs and agenda are what remains unknown.  Reference – Facebook Post
  • My response:  Tim J. Clark Steve Sanders I agree that it is irresponsible to imply the worst possible meaning to the affiliations and linkages but isn’t this what the Mayor has done through his statements and actions?  If there is good evidence to the contrary, why did the WFIU moderators Bob Zaltsberg and Sara Wittmeyer insist that they were just considering the claims to be allegations? If Sarah, Doug, their family, and business are harmed because of the irresponsibility of the city and media, do they (Sarah, Doug, Schooner Creek Farm) have legal recourse?

Aug 3, 2019. (Bloomington) Herald-Times  COMMENTARY: Don’t forget the First Amendment, By Laura Lane

  • The Herald-Times has published multiple articles on the farmers’ market developments. We have done our own research. We have reviewed court documents, emails, videos and recordings that so many claim is proof that the owners of Schooner Creek Farm are white supremacists. Direct evidence, it isn’t there.
  • When a news organization publishes a false statement that damages a person’s reputation, that’s libel. I make sure, just about every day, to not libel anyone. Not just because I could be sued, but because it’s important that the information we report be accurate. We cannot and do not print accusations that can’t backed up with tangible stand-up-in-court proof.

Aug 5 -6, 2019.  “KKK Flyers”

Aug 8, 2019. WTIU/WFIU  Bloomington Mayor To Host Facebook Live About Farmers’ Market Solutions By Barbara Brosher  (Facebook Post of the article)

Aug 9, 2019. WTIU/WFIU  Black Lives Matter Bloomington: Remove Schooner Creek From Farmers’ Market By Barbara Brosher  (Facebook Post of the article)

  • Highly recommend reading the posts from Steve Sanders. Here are a couple:
    • Steve Sanders. King said, “When the opportunity presents itself for you to defeat your enemy, that is the time which you must not do it….When you rise to the level of love, of its great beauty and power, you seek only to defeat evil systems. Individuals who happen to be caught up in that system, you love, but you seek to defeat the system.”
    • Steve Sanders.  you tell government to get “creative” so it can violate the Constitution but pretend it isn’t, as BLM is doing here, you are operating in the same tradition as white supremacist states that used literacy tests as a creative way to prevent blacks from exercising their constitutional right to vote, and a white supremacist president who sought to ban all Muslims but told Rudy Giuliani to cook up a creative way to make it look legal. The law books are full of cases where courts saw right through ruses and pretexts that governments have attempted to use, usually to deprive minority groups of their rights. Most recently, states like Indiana said they weren’t actually trying to discriminate against gays in marriage, they were simply promoting “responsible procreation.” People rightly laughed, and the state lost. Is that really the example we want to follow?
    • Steve Sanders It’s funny how the desire to censor and exclude has turned some progressives, and even radicals, into 1990s-Republican-style privatizers. The market is city operated because the city can provide quality control, can provide appropriate space, and mostly because a liberal town has long thought this is the kind of thing government appropriately does to foster a vibrant community and quality of life.
  • Farmers Market Input Form
  • Reports referenced in the BLM letter:
  • A few terms and definitions to consider when reviewing the reports
  • NSFH Website  

Aug 9, 2019. WTIU/WFIU Community Leader: Hate At Farmers’ Market Just A Symptom Of A Greater Problem By Tyler Lake   Facebook Post of the interview

  • KKK Flyers … WFIU/WTIU’s Joe Hren sat down with community leader and city council member Jim Sims to talk about how Bloomington is handling the heightened racial tension.
  • Jim Sims was also on the Aug 2 panel, Noon Edition talking on the same topic.
  • My post:
    • A good question:  “Was there anything that should have been done differently?”  Schooner Creek Farm (SCF) has been at the market for over nine years.  The market manager acknowledged that there were no complaints and SCF treated customers with respect. Jim Sims also acknowledges that SCF has followed the rules. The media through their consistent use of the term “allegation,” reinforces that there is no proof of the claims that have been made by the protestors against SCF that would justify their removal.
    • The actions of the protestors led to protests by antifa/black bloc members that then led to protests by the three-percenters who reportedly were executing their right to carry firearms.  Another protestor was arrested for not following the market rules. A candidate for public office (Allen for Monroe county) removed a post referencing the antifa protestors because of threats that were being made by the protestors.  The Mayor closed the market for two weeks due to safety concerns. In his comments, the Mayor expanded the scope of the issues to include the second amendment and actions of the current presidential administration.  And now, conditions have likely contributed to KKK flyers showing up renewing concerns of further problems.  Individuals and groups can exercise their first amendment right to boycott a market and a respective vendor and this works both ways further escalating the problem.
    • What should be done differently moving forward and will this make the situation better or worse?

Aug 12, 2019. Digging Into Solutions for the Market on Facebook Live

Aug 13, 2019. “TIMELINE” —   WTIU/WFIU Bloomington Farmers’ Market Controversy: What’s Happened So Far By Emma Atkinson  Facebook Post of the article

  • Tim J. Clark An early warning on this controversy was provided on May 14, 2018, and captured in the IDS article: “Blotter: Fight at Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market by Cameron Drummond. Another significant event occurred immediately following the conviction of Nolan Brewer. Court records including an FBI transcript were made available by Buzzfeed. Information provided in the transcript was taken out of context and used to motivate protestors. There has been no information provided that provides the city with a legal justification for removing Schooner Creek Farm from the market. This fact has been consistently reinforced by local attorneys commenting on the topic. The protests and counter-protests have likely contributed to the significant decline in market attendance.

Aug 13, 2019. WTIU/WFIU.  Bloomington Farmers’ Market To Reopen Saturday With Increased Security By Barbara Brosher   Facebook Post of the article.

Aug 14, 2019. Dye: Schooner Creek Farm will be at farmers’ market Saturday By Kurt Christian The Herald-Times

Aug 14, 2019.  Dye: Schooner Creek Farm Will be at Farmers’ Market Saturday By Kurt Christian The Herald-Times

  • Aug 25, 2019. Rober Hall reply
  • Aug 29 Herald-Times – Letter Agrees with Robert Hall by Margaret Menge

    • To  the editor:  The guest column by Robert Hall, “Mayor Wrong about Schooner Creek Farm” (Aug. 18), is the first level-headed thing I’ve read on this issue with our farmers’ market.

      I’ve looked over the supposed “charges” against the owner of Schooner Creek Farm and have found evidence of neither hate nor white supremacy.

      Does someone disagree with something she once wrote in an online forum? Well, why not send her a letter or email and let her know why you think she’s incorrect? You know, lay out your arguments. It’s the American way.

      Bullying and intimidation aren’t.

Aug 15, 2019. Mayors Speech.

  • Our community market faces a community challenge that must be met with a community response. And Bloomington has been coming together over the past two weeks. Thanks to public support and tireless efforts of the Monroe County Growers Association and Bloomingfoods, pop-up markets the past two Saturdays have offered key alternatives for farmers and customers both. Other groups like United Way and Downtown Bloomington Inc have stepped up to help carry the baton. And as they have over decades, groups like Bloomington United, the NAACP, many faith-based groups, PRIDE, Black Lives Matter, Bloomington Refugee Network, the Bloomington Human Rights Commission and many others continue to champion human dignity and combat prejudice and hatred. Of particular note are the focused efforts from advocates and volunteers, organized as “No Space for Hate,” directly to address issues at the Farmers’ Market.

Aug 15, 2019. WTIU/WFIU  Five Things You Need To Know Ahead Of This Weekend’s Reopened Farmers’ Market By Emma Atkinson

  1. Usual place, usual time
  2. Street closures and free parking
  3. Increased security
  4. Market ambassadors
  5. Clearly marked flyering and protesting areas

Aug 15, 2019. No Space for Hate FBI Visits Antifa Organizers in Bloomington  No source is given for the information provided.

Aug 15, 2019.  City. The Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market will reopen this Saturday, August 17 at Showers Common from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m.  “I hope you will join in the process of building a shared future, knowing we have our differences, but one thing we share is a love for the Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market.” – Marcia Veldman, Market Coordinator”.   The above quote was pulled from a letter to vendors referring to differences within the vendor community on a variety of topics.

Aug 16, 2019.  WTIU/WFIU As Market Prepares To Reopen, Community Remains Divided Over Solutions By Barbara Brosher  Facebook Post of the article

Aug 16, 2019. WTIU/WFIU.  Some Market Vendors To Set Up At Alternative Location Saturday By Sara Wittmeyer.  Facebook post of the article

Aug 17, 2019.  WTIU/WFIU Farmers’ Market Reopens, Business As Usual For Some By Emma Atkinson. Facebook post of the article and comments

Aug 17, 2019.  Vendors still split despite return of city farmers’ market By Kurt Christian The Herald-Times  Facebook post of the article

  • On Saturday, Schooner Creek Farm’s Sarah Dye acknowledged those were her posts. She said Antifa, or anti-fascist group, started the farmers’ market drama by illegally publishing her private conversations.
  • “The protesters and the Antifa have taken a thread of truth and spread a horrendous lie,” Dye said. “
  • Dye said she rejects supremacy in all of its forms, but has labeled herself an Identitarian and referred to the American Identity Movement’s website to describe her political ideologies. 
  • Regarding allegations made by another vendor, — In a follow-up email, Dye confirmed that she and Williams were in a homeschooling group together. She said all other claims by Williams “are disgusting lies.”
  • When asked if any of the protests stemming from her personal views had made her pause for reflection, Dye said, “As far as changing my views? I don’t even know how to answer that.”

Aug 18, 2019. Herald-Times, Guest column Mayor wrong about Schooner Creek Farm By Robert Hall Guest columnist

Aug 18, 2019. New York Times.  Amid the Kale and Corn, Fears of White Supremacy at the Farmers’ Market By Jack Healy

  • The situation grew so volatile that Bloomington’s mayor suspended the market late last month over public safety concerns. It abruptly short-circuited the heart of Saturday morning life in this heavily white, liberal town of 85,000 that is home to Indiana University. The market has more than 130 vendors and draws as many as 12,000 people downtown at the height of the growing season.
  • Anti-fascist protesters showed up one weekend dressed in black to stand in front of Schooner Creek Farm’s vegetable stall. A week later, armed members of a conservative militia group drove into Bloomington to support the farm against what they called anti-fascist enemies. Online, members of white nationalist groups have seized on the story and rallied behind Schooner Creek.
  • Schooner Creek’s owners deny being white supremacists and say they keep their political beliefs out of the market. They have said on social media that they are being harassed, demonized and hounded out of the farmers’ market by left-wing activists because of “a handful of mildly pro-white comments.” They have not been accused of any wrongdoing or violence, and say they are the ones who have become victims of “the cult of the left.”

  • The farmers did not respond to questions about their beliefs or political activities, but Sarah Dye, one of Schooner Creek’s owners, told the Fox 59 television station in Indianapolis that “we absolutely reject supremacy.”   . … “I am disgusted at the level of lies, misinformation, falsehoods and intimidation by those who do not know me or my family,” she said. Ms. Dye referred to herself as “an identitarian,” which she described as a worldview that “emphasizes the importance of identity.”

  • In an email, Ms. Dye, who runs Schooner Creek with her husband, Douglas Mackey, said she had no plans to leave the market despite pressure from activists who now hand out buttons that say “Don’t Buy Veggies From Nazis.” … “I have helped establish other farmers’ markets in the area and we have strong ties to our community,” Ms. Dye wrote. “We look forward to participating in the Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market for many more years to come.”

  • The Bloomington Herald Times reported on Saturday that Ms. Dye had acknowledged writing the “Volkmom” posts. 

  • Little has been resolved, but the farmers’ market reopened Saturday, peacefully so far, with new security cameras and more police officers on hand.   … “We can’t let it be hijacked by fear or hatred,” Mayor Hamilton said.

  • Bloomingtonian – Facebook Post of the article

Aug 19, 2019.  The Nation. White Supremacy Is Terrorism, Not a Difference of Opinion  By Edward Burmila

Aug 20, 2010. PublicSeminar.org.  Antifa is not a ‘Terrorist Organization,’ But That Doesn’t Make it Good.  Thoughts from Bloomington, Indiana  By Jeffrey C. Isaac is James H. Rudy Professor of Political Science at Indiana University, Bloomington.

Aug 20, 2019. Herald-Times.  Market council suggests adjusting seniority system in wake of upheaval By Emily Ernsberger

  • Regarding the leaked messages by Unicorn Riot,  …   Schooner Creek Farm’s Sarah Dye acknowledged those were her posts.
  • Dye said she rejects supremacy in all of its forms, but has labeled herself an Identitarian and referred to the American Identity Movement’s website to describe her political ideologies. The American Identity Movement’s website claims to “staunchly defend the preservation of America’s historical demographics in the face of mass immigration, and are opposed to the demonization of and discrimination against America’s white majority.”

Aug 21, 2019. WTIU/WFIU.  Ask The Mayor: Bloomington’s Hamilton On Farmers’ Market Return, Budget Reviews By Joe Hren Facebook Post of the article and comments

  • Hren: You may have seen this story got as far as the New York Times, if we look back at this time frame to when this started and where it is now, is there something you can look back and say I wish we did this different?
  • Hren: I came across another publication called The Nation noting the city’s weak response to the controversy here saying white supremacy is terrorism, not a difference of opinion. You’ve said the city has its hands tied due to First Amendment rights. What’s your response to that article?
    • Hamilton: I saw that article, I don’t agree with most of it. I do agree that we do have home grown white supremacist terrorism. We see evidence of it in our community with KKK distributing flyers, I agree that’s home grown terrorism and we need to treat it as such. 
    • Hamilton:  “My obligation in regard to the market is also to follow the law and protect the rights of individuals who may believe many things, but don’t act on those things.” 

Aug 21, 2019. Herald-TimesCity, No Space for Hate act like thought police Guest Commentary submitted by Michael Enyeart (FB Post of the column)

City, No Space for Hate act like thought By Michael Enyeart

  • The Herald-Times reported “Abby Ang, a lead organizer with the protest group No Space for Hate, said Tuesday that she wasn’t sure what her group’s response would be to news of Schooner Creek Farm’s return.  
  • The problem with Ang’s comment is the fact that white supremacy has not been expressed at farmers’ market.
  • The Mayor John Hamilton swore to uphold the Constitution, but the mayor is openly helping Ang’s gang chum the water, by continuously scheming to harass and exclude this couple from the market, based on their alleged private beliefs. The mayor is openly railing against several Constitutional rights. Let that sink in. Is that what liberals have become? Thought police?
  • One would need to be blind and deaf to not understand that structural racism is grievous in our society. I support addressing that in ways that produce improvement. The protest has done the opposite.
 Aug 22, 2019. American Greatness. The War on ‘White Supremacy’ Invades the Farmer’s  By Julie Kelly   Market  Facebook Post -Schooner Creek Farm
  • The mayor of Bloomington, Indiana knows who is responsible for the race-related turmoil plaguing his town’s weekly farmer’s market and dividing his college community: Donald Trump, of course.
  • “A toxic stew of bigotry and hatred, of intolerance and divisiveness, is being brewed by many . . . including our own president,” he told reporters and residents assembled at the Bloomington City Council chambers on July 31. “I am furious that coming from our White House are messages of bigotry and racism.”

Aug 24, 2019. IDS. Man drives SUV at anti-fascist, No Space for Hate protesters near Bloomington farmers market  By Lydia Gerike

Aug 24, 2019. WFIU/WTIU. Post from Earth eats  What If Your Farmer Is A White Nationalist? By Kayte Young.   Facebook post of the article and comments

Aug 27, 2019.  Herald-TImes, Bloomington United rally preaches love as a response to hate By Kurt Christian

August 28, 2019.  Interview at Red Ice tv/radio-3fourteen of Sarah Dye, Co-Owner, Schooner Creek Farm. 

Aug 29, 2019. WTIU/WFIU.  Sarah Dye Doubles Down On ‘Identitarian’ Ideals In YouTube Interview  By Adam Pinsker    Facebook post of the article

Aug 31, 2019. FB Schooner Creek Farm –  Such a nice, peaceful day at the farmers’ market today in Bloomington. So grateful for the police presence which helped contribute to the positive atmosphere. Thank you to all who came out to show support for the wonderful farmers of Indiana.

Sep 3, 2019. IU Center for Research on Race and Ethnicity in Society. A research center of the Office of the Vice Provost for Research, Indiana University Bloomington

Sep 6, 2019. Indep Voter – Blog Post –   Part 1 Discord in the community – better strategies needed? By Tim J. Clark

  • The controversy over personal beliefs and professional conduct involving the Farmers Markets in Nashville and Bloomington, Indiana escalated to the point that resulted in regional, state and national attention.  The issues are unlikely to be resolved any time soon by applying current methods that include demonizing the opposition until they admit the error of their ways.   An attacking (suboptimal) approach typically results in making a situation even worse.

Sep 7, 2019.   Bloomington – Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA)  – Sep 7, 2019 March Against White Supremacy.  Abby Ang –  NSFH Sep 7, 2019, Speech White Supremacy

  • Sep 7, 2019.  WFIU/WTIU  Bloomington Anti-White Supremacy March Touches On Local, National Issues By Emma Atkinson.  Facebook Post of the article  
    • The event was sponsored by the Bloomington chapter of Young Democratic Socialists of America, an “anti-capitalist organization.”
    • Tang also referenced this summer’s Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market’s struggles with an Identitarian vendor.  ….“We are here because there are Nazis at the farmers’ market,” Tang said.  Tang is a senior at Indiana University (languages: Chinese, English, Spanish).
  • Sep 8. IDS News.  March Against White Supremacy takes place Saturday down Kirkwood Avenue, B-Line Trail.  By Lydia Gerike   Facebook Post.
    • They were protesting a variety of issues related to white supremacy, from alleged white nationalists at the Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market to national raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
    • The march was organized by Young Democratic Socialists of America Bloomington with support and speakers from other Bloomington activist chapters including UndocuHoosiers, No Space for Hate and Black Lives Matter. Community members and students also joined in.
    • Some anti-fascist, or antifa, protesters were dressed in black clothing, and pink bandanas covered their faces instead of the usual black masks.

Sep 10, 2019. Herald-Times. Letter: Taking action is true test By Mike Bakunin

Sep 11, 2019. Herald-Times.  Letter: The real victims of the farmers’ market By Sheryl Price

Sep 11, 2019. Herald-Times. Letter Farmers Market By William Ballew

Sep 12, 2019. Herald-Times, Letter: Time for some surrender By Fritz Lieber

  • (Identified as a Professor in the Education Department at Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN) at RateMyProfessor.com)

Sept 12, 2019 (update).   My blog post that summarizes the story since May and suggests a way ahead. ”  Part 1 Discord in the community – better strategies needed?  by Tim J. Clark

Sep 13, 2019. American Greatness.  Orwell Down on the Farm By S.T. Karnick.  A year-long harassment campaign against the owners of Schooner Creek Farm in Indiana is the Left’s updated “Two-Minutes Hate.” The threats have stopped for the moment. But how long can the truce last? 

  • The attacks on Dye and her family are reminiscent of the idea of “thoughtcrime” in George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. In Orwell’s totalitarian dystopia, thoughtcrime, crimethink, and wrongthink are the holding of political thoughts—ideas about freedom—that could undermine the authority of the regime.
  • “I really do hope that some of these people in the ‘No Space for Hate’ group can stop hating so much and incorporate themselves back into the market,” Dye added.

Sep 13, 2019  20190913 Facebook Post – Sarah Dye –   Legal Action Update.  Thank you all for your support of Schooner Creek Farm. Thanks to the 43,000+ views on the Red Ice TV interview, we have received enough donations to finally retain a local attorney and pursue legal action.

  • With that said, I encourage anyone who has screenshots of defamation, threats of violence, slander, etc. — to send them our way. If you wish to do so anonymously you can easily do so by using WeTransfer with the email recipient being info@schoonercreekfarm.org.
  • In addition, you may also anonymously post screenshots to Flickr, as well as Imgur, but make sure to tag it with #schoonercreekfarm
  • We are also still accepting donations for our legal fund. Donations can be made at our website at:  https://schoonercreekfarm.org/donate
  • Thank you for your support. Feel free to share this post.

Sep 13, 2019. Hearald-Times.  Letter: Affirm value of all people By Tom Frohman .  Progress will not come from marginalizing one market vendor or the countless Americans still infected by white supremacy. As the Bloomington United mission statement says, we need to affirm the value of all human beings. I hope the rally on Tuesday, Aug. 27, called out the hate activity at our market and invited dialogue with those who may not think like us. 

Sep 14, 2019. Herald-Times.  Letter: About American Identity Movement  By Jared Stancombe in the Herald Times.  Posted at No Space for Hate.  Online comments on the Letter to include the following: “As an “analyst” you should provide specific facts with your generalizations. What do you know that we don’t know?”

  • To the editor:  I am a former Homeland Security analyst, where I performed threat assessments on foreign terrorist organizations. I believe that the American Identity Movement is a greater threat to our national security and to the public safety of those in Bloomington. The American Identity Movement has had several members who have committed mass shootings and domestic terror attacks. They also inspire mass shootings abroad. I support Abby Ang and all the hard work she is doing to bring our community together against a murderous ideology and the people who carry them into our community. This is not a matter of a difference of opinion or “seeing the other side.” The other side knows only violence with genocide as the end goal. The more they are silenced, the safer we will be. Do we really want to empower people who want mass shootings? Because that is exactly what the American Identity Movement and its members such as Sarah Dye want. They believe every mass shooting committed by their members is a victory. Their hate will invite tragedy, bloodshed and immense loss of life. Jared Stancombe,
    Heltonville

Sep 21, 2019.  WFIU/WTIU. Demonstrators Protest, Refuse To Move From Front Of Schooner Creek Farm’s Market Stand By Tyler Lake and Emma Atkinson.

There were a total of 11 protesters per a Facebook post from one of the leaders

  • Demonstrators gathered at the Bloomington farmers’ market on Saturday to protest the presence of vendor Schooner Creek Farm,  
  • The activists stood in front of the Schooner Creek stall wearing shirts emblazoned with the phrase “justice is what love looks like in public,” a quote by professor and philosopher Cornel West on the front and “Boycott Schooner Creek Farms – Defund white supremacy” on the back. 
  • Facebook Comments:  Bloomington IN: What’s Going On (Over 12,000 members).
    • 160 comments before the admin turned off commenting.

Sep 24, 2019.   WTIU/WFIU Officials: We Changed Demonstration Rules Because Of Farmers’ Market Protests By Emma Atkinson

  • According to current market rules, if a person is interrupting the market and refuses to leave, staff will call the Bloomington Police Department.
  • Protester and local reverend Forrest Gilmore says the group was asked to move and refused.
  • “We were asked to stop, yes,” he says. “We were not informed of any rules that we were violating, but we were asked to stop, and we politely said no.”
  • Market Coordinator Marcia Veldman says, despite the rules, she made the decision to not involve the police on Saturday. 

Sep 25, 2019. Blog – Indep Voters.  Update: Sep 24, 2019 Bloomington Farmers Market Discord yy Tim J. Clark. My comments on the WFIU/WTIU article “Officials: We Changed Demonstration Rules Because Of Farmers’ Market Protest”

Sep 26, 2019. WFIU/WTIU News. Protesters Expected At Meeting Of Conservative Group At Ellettsville Library  By Emma Atkinson 

Sep 26, 2019. The Herald-times.  Dye’s speech protested at Ellettsville library By Emily Ernsberger and Kurt Christian

  • I attended the meeting that was sponsored by the Grass Roots Conservatives. First time I attended one of their meetings.  In addition to Sarah Dye’s presentation that reinforced the importance of the Constitution and first amendment rights, the agenda included the pledge of allegiance, singing the national anthem and an opening and closing prayer.
  • Sarah Dye provided a summary of events and the unfortunate situations her family has had to experience through the process.  Her van was vandalized during the meeting (spattered with fake blood that washed off).
  • She is not being allowed to participate in the Winter Market – which is run by a private non-profit. No reason was given.
  • Protesters attempted to intimidate attendees by taking pictures of individuals and calling attendees Nazis. For those that were new to the drama, this gave them a good idea of the behaviors of the protesters.
  •  It appears the protesters continue to escalate their attacks on anyone that does not subscribe to their point of view.  It was reported that five police officers and two library security personnel were present. They were needed to manage the situation.

Sep 26, 2019.  WTIU/WFIU News Sarah Dye Speaks At Grassroots Conservatives Meeting Amid Protesters By Joe Hren

Sep 27, 2019  IDS News.   Schooner Creek Farm owner Sarah Dye criticizes farmers market protests Thursday By LYDIA GERIKE   Clip – Presentation Length 1:57

Sep 28, 2019 . Market Activities

  • Bloomingtonian.  “Purple Shirt Brigade” protests SCF at farmers market”
    • Members of the “Purple Shirt Brigade” stage a protest against Schooner Creek Farm during the Farmer’s Market, Saturday, September 28, 2019 in Bloomington, Indiana.
    • A group of protesters wearing t-shirts, and holding blank purple signs, picketed while walking in a tight circle, but spread out after the police asked them to do so. Sarah Dye, who owns and works at SCF has admitted she’s a member of the American Identify Movement, and has self-identified as an identitarian. The Southern Poverty Law Center lists AIM as a white nationalist group.
    • Schooner Creek Farm’s presence at the market has been the subject of protests since at least June of 2018 when a scuffle occurred near the coffee stands after protesters arrived at the Schooner Creek booth. Protests began again in June of 2019, and continued all summer. Protesters, including the group, No Space for Hate, have been demanding the city stop SCF from being a vendor in the market, but the city, citing the First Amendment, says it cannot remove the business since the market takes place on public property.
    • An alternative market began in the parking lot of the Eastside Bloomingfoods, after masked anti-fascist protesters were in the market one weekend, and a militia group the next, and the market was shut down for two weeks in July. When the market reopened, protests continued.
    • Recently SCF was denied a permit for the winter market. (VSideo by Jeremy Hogan/The Bloomingtonian)
  • Sep 28, 2019.  Schooner Creek Farm – Facebook posts and comments regarding the protestors

Sep 29, 2019. IDS.  Purple Shirt Brigade protests Schooner Creek Farm for second time at Saturday market by By Lydia Gerike

  •  A group of protesters wore purple and waved makeshift purple fans Saturday afternoon at the Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market to encourage shoppers to boycott Schooner Creek Farm.
  • A market official said clothing with messages are not banned from the market, including the shirts the Purple Shirt Brigade wore. The signs, however, toed the line for city leaders and Market Ambassadors who quickly became involved.
  • My comments to the article:
    • Regarding the allegations referenced in the article of “white supremacy,” a few follow-up questions for the reporter: What criteria do protesters apply to determine that someone is a “white supremacist”? What evidence (proof) do protesters have that support their judgment?
    • On reference to the American Identity Movement (AIM) – AIM has a website that includes the statement: “AIM prohibits the advocacy of or participation in supremacy, violence, or illegal activity. We reject extremism of any stripe.” Why was this not mentioned in the article? How would you prove or disprove this claim?
    •  What is the difference between a protest message printed on a sign vs a T-shirt? Did market officials get advice from the city’s legal counsel on this issue?

Sep 29, 2019. Blog – Indep Voter.  Part 2 – Discord in the community – better strategies needed?  By Tim J. Clark  Facebook Post at Bloomington IN – What’s going on?    

  • Sep 30, 2019. Unicorn Riot: Identity Evropa, Rebranded: Six Months Later by Chris Schiano
    • I read through the information presented in the links – messages, emails, and links in the emails. On the email (July 27, 2019) comment from the police captain that AIM was a “neo‐nazi type group” – the information that would support his assessment was not mentioned.Actions contrary to what AIM publically posts on their website is open to challenge. AIM was created in March 2019. I listed a few questions for the supporters of AIM in my post e.g., What is meant by “mass immigration,” the effects of the “scourge of globalism” and “America’s historical demographics?”

Sep 28, 2019.  HTO. Commentary  Fear remains at Farmers’ Market. This is a guest editorial submission by Guy Loftman.  The Herald-Times has a paywall but you can read comments.

Oct 5, 2019.  Schooner Creek Farm was not at the market.

Oct 6, 2019. Herald-Times.  Sometimes, journalism is a dirty job, By “H-T Columnist”.  Discussed the attendance at the Market by the t-shirt protestors and the 3-percenters. The Herald-Times has a paywall but you can read comments.

  • I felt dirty last Saturday morning. …  At the Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market, I watched as people in boycott shirts shuffled around the Schooner Creek Farm stand. A couple of Three Percenters talked at the periphery. A photographer and a videographer toiled away, their forefingers muscular from years of work. Other watchers watched the watchers. I watched, too, judging them all. … I felt dirty because I was one of them, just there for the show. …  At least someone paid me to watch, I assuaged myself. It didn’t work.
  • In the end, nothing happened. Protesters of one kind or another shuffled and shuffled, waiting for something to happen. Watchers watched, waiting for something to happen. Some people on the right have suggested we’re biased because we haven’t covered the Boycott Schooner Creek T-shirts. But people wearing matching shirts and standing around is not a story. Nor is it a story they’re being watched by Three-Percenters. … I still felt dirty, so I returned home, to my apartment at the newspaper. …  There I showered.

Oct 8, 2019.  Bloomington Farmers’ Market – What’s Next? By Tim J. Clark. Submitted as a guest column to the Herald Times who have chosen not to publish.

  • The controversy at the market will likely continue to escalate and raises a few questions:  Is it possible to extend the rules against protest signs to include the other ways a protest message can be conveyed?  Is allowing the market to be a place for community protests – especially against vendors with a perspective and an association that someone may not like, a good thing? What are the conditions that will lead the city to disband the BFM?

Oct 8, 2019. A Better Way to Deal with the Bloomington Farmers Market Controversy By Tim J. Clark.     “What’s new?” is the introduction of quality management principles and a systems approach.  The U.S. system of government was designed to be continually improved supported by leadership at the local level of government.

Oct 16, 2019. “Robert Hall addressed the MCPL board meeting for 5 minutes on October 16, starting at 33:20 minutes. He complained about how the library staff violated the library’s Principles and Behavior Rules by not removing the protesters from the library at the Ellettsville branch premises on September 26 at a meeting of the Grassroots Conservatives with speaker Sarah Dye of Schooner Creek Farm. Margaret Menge spoke for 7 minutes, starting at 38:00 minutes, to the board about how this experience affected her. 47:34 minutes”

Oct 17, 2019. City of Bloomington – Community and Family Resource Department.

  • Ongoing Efforts to Address Market Issues Involve Mediation from OSU’s Bridge Initiative
  • While working to ensure both public safety and a welcoming and inclusive environment at the Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market, Mayor John Hamilton is simultaneously working to engage our community more generally on concerns about racism, anti-Semitism, and other forms of discrimination.

Oct 17, 2019. Herald Times, City enlists mediator to issue report on farmers’ market unrest By Kurt Christian.  There is a paywall but comments can be reviewed. Comments are typically less emotional.

  • Link to the complete article  City enlists mediator to issue report on farmers’ market unrest 
  • Johnson said his presence in Bloomington has been intentionally covert because a large-scale public discussion on the matter could collapse into discord. He said his work needs to remain coherent. … That policy won’t cut the general public out of his process, though.

Oct 17, 2019. FOX59 Web.  Bloomington working to address issues after uproar over farmers’ market vendor’s alleged white supremacy ties

Oct 18, 2019. WFIU/WTIU.  Bloomington Mayor Brings In Outside Help To Mediate Farmer’s Market Issue  By ADAM PINSKER

  • Oct 18, 2019. Facebook post at Bloomington, IN – What’s Going On? (13k members)

Nov 3, 2019. Blog – Indep Voter  Part 3. Discord in the community – better strategies needed? by Tim J. Clark

  • Saturday’s (Nov 2, 2019) circus at the Market sponsored by the “Purple Shirt Brigade” with support from No Space for Hate and witnessed by the city’s attorney was interesting.
  •  Is the intent of the city’s policies and actions regarding protests to create and support the conditions that will provide the mayor with an excuse to permanently close the market?   

Facebook Post of the article  – Bloomington IN – What’s going on? (13k members).

  • On the comments, I did not see any opinions on the content of the post, e.g., that the Mayor’s policies on protests could lead to a shut down of the market.  Anyone and any group can show up wearing any sign or costume calling for a boycott of anything – the city, a vendor, a vendor that has expressed a view someone may not agree with ….
  • Steven Peterson Bloomington Farmers Market Purple Thought Police – As a politically correct aware liberal, I am saddened and disgusted by the uniformed protesters harassing the “bad” people at Schooner Farms. The market has been one of my very favorite things about summer in Bloomington, but I stayed away and didn’t go once this year. The protesters are committing a grave cognitive error in harassing these people – the protesters believe they are “Right”. It’s necessary to point out injustices of course, but this has turned into a meaningless joke. This is where PC flips over into Lord of the Flies, and the purple shirts have become the very thing they’re protesting against.  This is the first time I’ve personally witnessed the beginning of Orwell’s Thought Police, and it is freaking scary …

Nov 6. 2019. The John B. Wells Program, Episode 1218 – Sarah Dye  In this edition we are joined by first-time guest Sarah Dye, an organic farmer in southern Indiana. She and her husband own and run Schooner Creek Farm and are being harassed, and their livelihood jeopardized, at the Bloomington Community Farmer’s Market in Bloomington, Indiana by Antifa activists and thugs. They are being labeled as racist and white supremacists by these degenerates with no proof of these allegations. Tonight, we hear her side of the story.

Nov 9, 2019.  Bloomingtonian,  Five protesters arrested at Farmers Market  By Jeremy Hogan. Facebook post and comments

  • Five members of the Purple Shirt Brigade were arrested during the Bloomington Community Farmers Market for holding signs during a protest against Schooner Creek Farm, Saturday, November 9, 2019 in Bloomington, Ind. The signs are a violation of market policy.
  • Charges were disorderly conduct, and trespassing.
  • Police wrote citations, but told protester Lesamarie Hacker that they were being arrested, just not booked, or taken to jail, but told they cannot return to the market space for 24 hours, and if they return next week to do something similar they will be arrested for criminal trespass and booked.

Nov 9, 2019.  Indiana Daily Student (IDS) Purple Shirt Brigade protesters removed from Bloomington farmers market Saturday By Lydia Gerike

  • Five protesters with the Purple Shirt Brigade were escorted out of the Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market and issued trespass and disorderly conduct citations by police Saturday morning after holding signs and refusing to leave. 
  • Rules prevent people from holding signs at the market outside of designated areas, but protesters have been finding other ways to make statements, such as wearing purple clothing and reserving spaces to sing songs with lyrics changed to address the situation.
  • Bonds, Forrest Gilmore, Lesamarie Hacker, Ashley Pirani and Tom Westgard were all issued citations. Gilmore, who is the executive director of Shalom Community Center, said he was participating in the protest as a private citizen.

Nov 11, 2019. DailyBeast  Cops Bust Unicorn Protesting White Supremacy at Indiana Farmer’s Market by Kelly Weill

  • Bloomington officials ruled this summer that Schooner Creek Farm was not breaking any rules, and that Dye and her husband had a First Amendment right to their beliefs. 
  • Disseminates the “allegations”  and association with Nolan Brewer.  Reporter claims that the terms identitarian and white supremacy are synonymous but offer no evidence that this opinion is valid for this situation.
  • In her Aug 3, 2019 article in the Bloomington Herald-Times titled “Commentary: Don’t forget the First Amendment”, Laura Lane reported that there “is no proof that the owners of Schooner Creek Farm are white supremacists. Direct evidence, it isn’t there.

Nov 13, 2019.  Herald-Times Prosecutor considering charges after incident at farmers’ market – The Herald-Times, 11_13_2019

  • Herald-Times Online (HTO) Facebook Post of the Information:  The Lead-in:  In August, the owner of Schooner Creek Farm confirmed to the H-T that she authored leaked posts under the name “Volkmom.” Five protesters were issued citations Saturday while protesting the vendor’s continued presence at the city market.
    • HTO response to a previous article:
      • The Herald-Times Please note the date of the opinion column you are quoting. On Aug. 3, our reporting staff was still trying to confirm that Sarah Dye was “Volkmom,” which was the final link in the chain that she was the “Sarah” who made the comments that were leaked. The link was confirmed by Dye herself at the market on Saturday, Aug. 17, as part of our ongoing coverage that began in June. Hope this helps, and thanks for reading.
      • Tim J. Clark The Herald-TimesThank you. For clarification, are you saying that there is now “direct evidence” and “stand-up-in-court” proof that Sarah Dye is a white supremacist?

Nov 13, 2019, Newsweek, UNICORN ARRESTED FOR PROTESTING WHITE SUPREMACY IN ONGOING FARMERS MARKET DRAMA BY 

Nov 15, 2019. WTIU/WFIU. The Winter Farmers’ Market Moving To Switchyard Park Pavilion This Year By  Bente Bouthier  Facebook post and comments on the article

  • “Schooner Creek Farms will not be selling at the winter market.”
  • Tim J. Clark Questions for the reporter: Why did you mention that Schooner Creek Farms (SCF) will not be selling at the winter market? Why was SCF denied the opportunity to participate? What policy was applied in making the decision to exclude SCF?   …  Does a private organization operating on city owned property have to comply with the First Amendment?

Nov 19, 2019.  B Square Beacon. Uncertain future for Bloomington farmers market, still no decision on charges against protestors by  

  • Informal information shared by some vendors at Monday’s meeting suggest sales have been down by around 30 percent.
  • Transitioning the market to a private 501(c)(3) has been suggested as a way to exclude Schooner Creek.
  • Deputy prosecutor for Monroe County, Jeff Kehr, told The Beacon late Friday that no charging decisions had been made—his office was waiting until they had all the information needed to make those decisions. As of the end of the day Monday, there was no further word.
  •  Others rose to speak to suggest adding language about safety and the expulsion of hate groups. The reference to hate groups drew to the podium a Bloomington resident, who gave Margaret as her first name to The Beacon after she spoke. Margaret started by saying that finding ways to lower prices would help make the market more accessible and inclusive.  

Nov 19, 2019. Schooner Creek Farm Owner Hasn’t Applied For 2020 Bloomington Farmers’ Market By Adam Pinsker

  • Interesting “headline” ….
  • A controversial vendor at the Bloomington run farmers’ market has not yet applied for a permit for the 2020 market. … Chair of the Farmers’ Market Advisory Committee Bruce McCallister says prospective vendors have until March to apply.

Nov  20, 2019. WTIU/WFIU.  Ask The Mayor: Bloomington’s Hamilton On Farmers’ Market Mediation, Switchyard Park By Joe Hren Facebook Post and comments of the article

  • Hren: The city asked for the services of a mediator from Ohio State University on the Farmers’ Market situation, how do you expect this to help?
  • Hamilton: It can be confusing, I have to make sure I treat all of the patrons of the market evenly, we have a rule in the market you can’t do political activity in the market proper and we’ve had to enforce that. And we enforce that to anybody no matter what their persuasion is.

Nov 20, 2019. Herald-TImes. Winter market to open Dec. 7 in Switchyard Park Pavilion By Carol Kugler

  • Unlike the Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market, the winter market is a nonprofit group and not associated with the city, even though it will now be housed in a building owned by the city. With the problems the community market has faced, winter market officials have said that Schooner Creek Farms will not be a vendor.

Nov 21, 2019. Bloomington Winter Farmers Market – List of Vendors 2019/2020

  • Schooner Creek Farm is not allowed to participate.

Bloomington Winter Farmers Market  – Two (2) year Agreement (Dec 7, 2019 thru March 28, 2020 and Dec 5, 2020 thru March 27, 2020.)

  • The private vendor – Center for Sustainable Living CSL) – Bloomington Winter Farmers Market can refuse to allow a vendor to participate in the market because of personal beliefs.   Unlike the city government, they do not have to respect the first amendment rights of individuals – they can discriminate.
    • The definition of bigotry is prejudice and the state of being intolerant. A bigot is a person who is prejudiced, or intolerant of those who are different. QUESTION: Does the Center for Sustainable Living (CSL) consider bigotry to be sustainable?
  • As of Nov 27, 2019,  the city has not published any rules regarding protestors at Switchyard Park.
  • GuideStar – Center for Sustainable Living – Non-profit status and reports

Nov 30, 2019. One page synopsis: Bloomington Farmers’ Market – Summary of Issues

Dec 1, 2019.  Herald-Times, Farmers’ market’s future course to be decided soon By Emily Ernsberger.  Farmers’ market’s future course to be decided soon _ Local _ hoosiertimes.com

  • At a Nov. 18 meeting of the Farmers’ Market Advisory Council, market coordinator Marcia Veldman said that while they understand the urgency of the situation, the parks department and the advisory council are unsure of the next steps for the market — which the city could either keep public or turn over to a private group.
  • The next advisory council meeting is set for 5:30 p.m. Dec. 9 in City Hall, two weeks earlier than it would normally be, in order to discuss plans for the 2020 market season.
  • Online comments to the article – my exchange of views with Bob Eno.

Dec 5, 2019. Herald-Times. Instant Message: Dec. 5, 2019  Question: What do you think the city of Bloomington should do about the Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market? 

Dec 6, 2019. City of Bloomington, IN – Office of the Mayor  Meet Bill Johnson with the Divided Community Project

Dec 6, 2019.  Frontpage Mag. Why I ‘Liked’ Schooner Creek Farm. I was invited to hate. I declined. By Danusha V. Goska

  • So, yes, if I lived in Bloomington today, I would buy Schooner Creek Farm produce, and I’d do so for several reasons. One, I am intelligent enough to differentiate between a ripe tomato and the grower’s opinions, …Two, I believe that interactions within a diverse community, including economic interactions, keep a community healthy and more tolerant … Three, I’d shop at Schooner Creek Farms because I don’t think that Dye’s thought crimes condemn her to not being able to make a living. 
  • Facebook Post of the article at Bloomington, IN What’s going on?

Dec 7. 2019.  Farmers’ Market 2020: Considering Our Options

Dec 9, 2019.  Community conversation focused on Bloomington Farmers’ Market By Ernest Rollins The Herald Times

  • The event was hosted by The Purple Shirt Brigade and No Space for Hate Bloomington at Bloomington City Hall.

Dec 9, 2019. Herald-TImes. Advisory council takes no stance on farmers’ market’s management By Ernest Rollins

  • Whether the city of Bloomington should remain in the farmers’ market business is a lingering conundrum after a turbulent 2019 season. … Marcia Veldman, coordinator for the Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market, said the Bloomington Board of Park Commissioners plans to make that decision at a Jan. 9 meeting. 

Dec 10, 2019/ WTIU/WFIU.  Farmers’ Market Advisory Council Discusses Market’s Future By Mitch Legan

  • The Bloomington Farmers’ Market Advisory Council voted unanimously to approve an edited draft of the 2020 Farm Vendor Handbook at Monday night’s meeting.
  • The council OK’d a variety of changes to the handbook and other market documents at its monthly meeting, before the Board of Park Commissioners decides if it will continue running the farmers’ market next month.

Dec 11, 2019. Bloomingtonian. String of vandalism incidents continue overnight By Jeremy Hogan

    • In a seemingly coordinated attack overnight, vandals smashed windows, placed nails on driveways, and left a bloodlike substance at the entrances to homes and in mailboxes, including that of the Bloomingtonian’s sole employee, Jeremy Hogan
    • Attacks included those on owners and customers of Schooner Creek Farm.

Dec 11, 2019.  IDS. Schooner Creek Farm, Eric Rasmusen, others hit by overnight vandalism By Lydia Gerike.

  • Three homes, two cars and a business were vandalized sometime between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning in acts that included fake blood, rusty nails and smashed car windows. …  At this time, it is unknown who committed these acts or if they are all connected.

Dec 15, 2019.  Vendors respond to city’s handling of 2019 farmers’ market  By Ernest Rollins and Emily Ernsberger

  • Results of the survey, obtained through a public records request by The Herald-Times, show that only 16 vendors — around 11% — of the 140 farm and prepared food vendors who can sell at the market responded. 
  • This and other feedback gathered will be used to help officials decide whether the city should remain in the farmers’ market business or potentially pass it on to some private entity. 
  • My comment on the article: “Insight on the proposed new rules governing protests was provided by Rashall Brackney, chief of police in Charlottesville, Virginia, at the panel discussion called “Farmers’ Market 2020: Considering Our Options.” She stated that in Charlottesville, they require protestors to obtain permits that provide the opportunity to discuss and communicate the rules (time, place, manner) and expectations as to what can and cannot be done regarding protests. This information is also communicated to the public so the public is not surprised if/when the city takes action against a protestor or counter-protestor.”

Dec 30, 2019. Limestone Post Magazine. Bloomington 2019: ‘The Year of the Farmers’ Market Controversy’  by Ellen Wu.   Facebook post of the article.

  • The article reinforces ignorance and naivete.  Contributors repeat the “white supremacist” and “white nationalism” allegations — despite HTO – Laura Lane reinforcing no direct evidence that the owners of Schooner Creek Farm are white supremacists  and it is libel to state otherwise.”  (Ref: Aug 3, 2019. Commentary: Don’t forget the First Amendment).
  • Steve Sanders Associate Professor – IU Maurer School of Law, has reinforced that “affiliations linkages to groups can be ambiguous and that it is irresponsible to use them to imply the worst possible meaning in the absence of proof of exactly what someone believes or seeks to accomplish. “

Dec 30, 2019. Bridge Initiative Report – Bloomington Indiana. The Divided Community Project is housed at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.

  • Regarding the Farmers market and interviews, individuals “were equally adamant in the belief that the Market was not the venue to resolve this conflict, nor should its future be held hostage to the outcome.  In recent weeks, there has been much activity to work towards this resolution. “

Dec 31, 2019. Herald-Times. Bridge Initiative recommends local task force on race issues By Emily Ernsberger.  A conflict consultation and mediation group has suggested the city of Bloomington form a task force to handle race-related issues.

  • Comments to the article identify that conservatives were not contacted to discuss their perspectives on the controversary.

Dec 31, 2019   The Atlantic Devotes Its December Issue to a Special Report: “How to Stop a Civil War.”   Essays consider how America is coming apart—and prospects for rebuilding a more civil, functional, and unified society.

Jan 5, 2020. Herald-Times.

    • Bloomington cannot kick out Schooner Creek Farms even though Sarah Dye has told The Herald-Times her family identifies as Identitarian.
    • That’s the new branding for old-fashioned white supremacy, nationalism and anti-Semitism. She admitted to us she’s Volkmom from online chatrooms specializing in hatred of non-whites and Jews. These are the people who marched in Charlottesville and chanted “Jews will not replace us.”
    • Schooner Creek Farms boasted its most profitable year ever, as racists came out from the hideouts and closets to support fellow white supremacists. … The rest of the vendors reported losses of 20% to 30% year over year.
    • Schooner Creek Farm. We all know who you are despite your protestations. And hate has always lost in the long run. It’s like acid — it ultimately feeds on and eats itself. As Martin Luther King noted, the arc of history is long but it always bends toward justice. White ethno states and anti-Semitism have nothing to do with justice.

Jan 6, 2020.  90 market vendors sign letter asking city to maintain market control By Emily Ernsberger

  • Though they may disagree on what the specifics of what the future might hold, at least 90 Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market vendors agree on one thing: the market should remain public.
  • Schooner Creek Farms’ vendors were not offered a chance to sign onto the letter. The writers said they believed that even though signers would agree the city should keep control of the market, many do not support white supremacy, and would have refused to sign it if Dye or Mackey had.

Jan 7, 2020. WTIU/WFIU.  Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton: City-Run Market Should Continue By Sara Wittmeyer

  • Regarding protests: “The city administration can regulate conduct and can place non-content-based  restrictions on speech (such as “time, place and manner” restrictions). We have done both in connection with the market, and will continue to do so, to sustain a vibrant, successful market, protect public safety, and support a welcoming and inclusive atmosphere, while respecting the civil rights of all our residents and visitors. Thus we  have rules prohibiting political signs or demonstrations in the vending area — regardlessof the content of those signs or demonstrations — and encourage them instead in“Information Alley” or other public spaces around the market. The administration   investigates and responds as warranted to actions or conduct by any vendor or patron of the market that violate applicable laws or rules or standards of conduct.” Ref Board_of_Park_Commissioners-20200109-Packet (1)

Jan 8, 2020. Herald-Times.  Mayor recommends market remain public ahead of parks board vote By Emily Ernsberger

  • The vote comes after a season full of contention when vendors Sarah Dye and Doug Mackey, owners of Schooner Creek Farm, were found to have ties to a white nationalist organization.
  • In his statement, Hamilton denounced racism and the presence of white supremacist ideology at the market.

Jan 9, 2020. Bloomington Parks Commission – Video of the  meeting on CATS – Commercial  Access Television Services

Jan 9, 2020 WISHTV – Indianapolis. Bloomington farmers’ market to go on but change after white nationalism flak by Dan Klein

  • The point of controversy last year was a vendor called Schooner Creek Farm which had alleged ties to white nationalism.
  • The city believes it cannot limit vendors because of their beliefs. So they are writing rules to limit signs and protests to designated areas.
  • As for the owner of Schooner Creek Farm, “she’s not a white supremacist, she’s an identitarian. She admits to that.” … That’s the belief which opposes multiculturalism. 
  • The park board’s discussion on rules of behavior was tabled until its next meeting on January 28. … Board members made clear Thursday night they are just giving the market a one-year extension and will be revisiting the idea of a city-sponsored market again next year.

Jan 10, 2020. WTIU/WFIU. Bloomington Parks Board Votes Unanimously To Continue Running Farmers’ Market By Mitch Legan.

  • The City of Bloomington will continue to run the Community Farmers’ Market through 2020. The Board of Park Commissioners voted unanimously Thursday evening to retain control of the market.  … The vote eases tensions for many vendors who rely on the market to make ends meet. Earlier this week, over 90 market vendors sent a letter to city officials asking them to keep the market city-run.
  • Those against retaining the market said continuing to run it would provide Dye a platform for her “identitarian” ideology.
  • After some deliberation and consideration of time constraints, the board moved to table its final vote on the market rules of behavior until its next meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 28 at 4 p.m.

Jan 10, 2020. Herald-Times. Farmers’ market to remain public in 2020 By Emily Ernsberger

  • Despite a contentious season last year, the Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market will continue to be operated by the city in 2020.
  • The vote followed the recommendation of the parks department staff, Mayor John Hamilton and the majority of vendors at the market, after a season in which a vendor was found to be a member of a white nationalist organization. Activists urged the city to remove the vendor from the market, though such removal based solely on beliefs would violate the First Amendment. One solution proposed throughout the season was to make the market private.
  • But that idea was rejected by city parks board members Les Coyne, Kathleen Mills and Lisa Simmons Thatcher, who all expressed that while the presence of white supremacy at the market has been unsettling, the city should continue to operate the 45-year-old market and make it as welcoming of a place as possible.
  • Dye is a self-described Identitarian and has aligned herself with the American Identity Movement’s mission to “staunchly defend the preservation of America’s historical demographics in the face of mass immigration, and are opposed to the demonization of and discrimination against America’s white majority.”
  • The Anti-Defamation League has labeled the American Identity Movement, formerly known as Identity Evropa, a hate group, saying it is one of the largest groups within the alt-right segment of the white supremacist movement. Dye has said she does not support white supremacy.

JAN 10, 2020. IDS.  Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market won’t privatize in 2020 By Lydia Gerike

  • Park commissioner Lisa Thatcher read from a prepared statement at the meeting and said the public’s focus shifted throughout the course of the market’s season. While some people initially asked for solutions such as the removal of Schooner Creek Farm, she said removing protesters and maintaining public control of the market seemed to become bigger concerns as the months wore on.
  • “Making the market private doesn’t solve a problem — it creates several new ones, ones that would not be managed by the experienced people and the considerable resources available through the parks department,” park commissioner Kathleen Mills read from her statement.

Jan 10, 2020. WFHB Public Radio – Bloomington.  What the Farmer’s Market Part II ,  By Kade Young (News Director), Sydney Foreman (Assistant News Director)

  • Jan 8, 2020. Facebook Post – Schooner Creek Farm – unedited interview of Sarah Dye – 48 minutes. Very little  (less than 2 minutes) was used in the broadcast.
  • Jan 27, 2020. What the Farmer’s Market? Part III
    • Law firm Mallor Grodner LLP filed a tort claim notice against the City of Bloomington representing activist and academic Cara Caddoo.
    • That same day, Cara Caddoo was arrested for holding a sign that read in all capital letters “SCHOONER CREEK FARM IS OPERATED BY MEMBERS OF IDENTITY EVROPA.” …  At the bottom of the sign, Caddoo said Identity Evropa was recently rebranded as the American Identity Movement.

Jan 15, 2020. Herald-Times. Prosecutor’s office not filing charges against farmers’ market protesters By H-T Report.

  • “My office has evaluated the specific facts and circu
  • mstances surrounding these citations, and we have decided that it is appropriate to decline prosecution in this instance,” Monroe County Prosecutor Erika Oliphant said in a news release.

Jan 15, 2020. WFIU /WTIU   Ask The Mayor: Bloomington’s Hamilton On First Amendment Rights …  By Joe Hren

  • Hren: Farmers’ Market will remain city controlled for at least a year. Some new market rules are being worked on and we’ll learn more at the next meeting. But some of the pushback I’m hearing especially from the No Space For Hate group is that the city claims First Amendment rights for keeping alleged white-supremacist vendors, but yet quelling any protests or rallies at the market. Can you address that?
  • Hamilton: Yeah, thanks for asking that, I think it’s important people understand when we do a restriction on the market which says you can’t walk with signs in the market, that applies to a right-wing group or a left-wing group. It applies to a white supremacist or to an anti-white supremacist. In our core vending area, we protect from anybody protesting. We encourage and support that type of protest around the market. So we have to be content neutral.
  • There’s also a rule against us controlling your thoughts or speech, so we can’t stop a vendor who believes a certain thing from believing that certain thing. 

Jan 22, 2020. WTIU/WFIU. Market Protestor Files Tort Claim Against City Of Bloomington By Sara Wittmeyer

  • The woman who was arrested this summer for protesting at the Bloomington Farmers’ Market has filed a Tort Claim Notice against the City of Bloomington claiming she was among other things, wrongfully arrested.

Feb 2, 2020. Herald-Times.  Produce and protests: Dye to return to farmers’ market; no resolution in sight  By Laura Lane The Herald-Times

  • Dye advocates for preserving America’s white majority. She opposes immigration, suggesting that the United States should focus on its own citizens in the throes of poverty and oppression
  • “I don’t feel I have extreme views and I certainly don’t have any hate in my heart for people of other races,” she said.
  • “I feel that at my core I am largely unchanged from the person I’ve always been, but have merely shed the guilt of being of European ancestry and have instead come to a view of my identity that is essentially more balanced and healthy,” she said.
  • Schooner Creek Farms intends to be back come spring. Dye has submitted the farm’s application for the 2020 season, and she and her husband plan to return to their regular spot. Booth C-8. …. Just like always.

Feb 2, 2020. Herald-TimesJournalists tell stories even if repugnant By Rich Jackson H-T columnist and Executi e Editor

  • From Laura’s interview with Dye, I learned that Dye continues to hold repugnant beliefs about people of color. She wants whites to hold on to the majority in the United States and that’s why she wants immigration across the southern border ended.
  • The American Identity Movement, regardless of attempts at rebranding,
    is racist. Shifting your message from one of being anti-people-of-color to pro-white doesn’t change a damn thing. Such people still want a white majority, which is a racist stand because it’s based solely on skin color.
  • Dye admitted to one of our reporters to being Volkmom in the Discord chat room … Although Dye never said anything I can nd too outrageous, you can’t spend more than five minutes in that rabbit hole without understanding the vile nature of the discussion.(1).
  • Sarah Dye is a racist and a white supremacist
  • What’s distressing is any support or kinship she offers to people who want to do real harm — even if Dye won’t admit to it. Identitarians don’t just want to stop all immigration of non-whites, they’d like to gas Jewish people and kill gay people in order to hold on to a white, heterosexual majority.
  • Dye has offered comfort and support to these ideas even if she says she doesn’t hold them herself. She’s paid her $100 to join Identity Evropa. She’s not a simple subsistence farm wife. She is, of her own choice, part of a movement.
  • And this very movement uses the exact same phrase early Nazis and Adolph Hitler utilized against journalists: lugenpresse — lying press. The current head of the American Identity movement has used it and pro-Donald Trump supporters started using it at the Republican convention in Cleveland in 2016. That’s where a man was nominated for president who calls the press “the enemy of the people.” 

(1) Link to the texts – Source info provided above.

Feb 4, 2020  WTIU/WFIU.  City Spends 20 Times More For Farmers’ Market Security In 2019 Than 2018  By BENTE BOUTHIER

Feb 5, 2020.  Herald-Times. Public safety report: overtime pay, violent crime up; overall crime down By Emily Ernsberger The Herald-Times . Facebook Post

  • In 2018, the Bloomington Police Department spent $5,230 in overtime pay at the farmers’ market. Last year, it spent $102,165.

Feb 11, 2020. Competing federal lawsuits brewing over farmers’ market issues By Laura Lane

  • A lawyer representing market vendor Sarah Dye and her Schooner Creek Farms notified city officials in November that he will be filing a lawsuit citing multiple First Amendment violations that he claims happened “week after week.
  • “It’s an interesting Constitutional case study, and it’s perfectly possible that all parties involved have legitimate claims,” he said. “They are on separate sides of it, and yet quite possibly they all might have legitimate claims.”

Feb 14, 2020. Herald-Times. Schooner Creek Farms sues city, mayor, 2 parks employees  By Laura Lane The Herald-Times

Feb 14, 2020. City of Bloomington.  Bridge Initiative Reconvenes Community Members, Awards Training Toward Implementation of Next Steps

  • Bloomington, Ind. – Facilitators from the Divided Community Project’s (DCP) Bridge Initiative@Moritz will return to Bloomington Friday, February 21 to meet with community members previously interviewed for the project’s report released in December 2019. The meeting will present an opportunity for those interviewed to provide feedback to the report, confirm its representation of community concerns, and discuss ways to expand public involvement as the report’s recommended action steps proceed.

Feb 19, 2020. WFIU/WTIU Ask The Mayor: Bloomington’s Hamilton On Schooner Creek Lawsuit, Prioritizing Budget By JOE HREN

Feb 25, 2020.  WTIU/WFIU.  Parks Board Approves Farmers’ Market Rules For 2020 By Mitch Legan.

  • The board voted 2-1 to adopt the rules after hours of interruptions, yelling and mockery. The proposed rule change was the last of 16 items on Tuesday’s agenda, so activists from the Purple Shirt Brigade and No Space for Hate attempted to prevent the Parks Board from getting to the rules by commenting on every single agenda item beforehand and using their full comment period to do so, even if it meant waiting out the remaining time in complete silence.

Feb 26, 2020.   Herald-Times , Parks board OKs farmers’ market rules amid barrage of comments   By Emily Ernsberger (paywall)

Feb 26, 2020. B Square Beacon. Protest at Bloomington park board meeting yields 2–1 vote on farmers market rules of behavior By Dave Askins.

Feb 28, 2020 In the Middle, Guest Post By Abby Ang (No Space for Hate) A Graduate Student in the (Farmers’) Marketplace of Ideas

  • Every Saturday morning in summer 2019, from 8 AM-12:30 PM, I sat twenty feet away from white supremacists selling vegetables. As the founder and lead organizer of No Space for Hate (NSFH), 

Feb 29, 2020. Herald-TImes. From anger to sorrow after Parks meeting  By Rich Jackson  columnist (and executive editor).

  • I’m sorry for Kathleen Mills.  …  I’m sorry for Les Coyne … nd I’m sorry for Israel Herrera. They are the Board of Parks Commissioners for Bloomington.
  • I’m sorry, too, for parks administrator Paula McDevitt and for farmers’ market coordinator Marcia Veldman.
  • I watched Tuesday night as those who addressed them called them names, cussed them, said the worst things you can say about a person. They were harassed and vilified, shouted at.

Mar 8, 2020. Herald-Times, First Amendment doesn’t allow anything anytime By Rich Jackson H-T columnist

  • This is the second of two columns about the divisive Board of Park Commissioners meeting on Feb. 25 that discussed the new rules governing protests at the Market.
  • “I’m troubled by citizens trying to have someone removed for their beliefs,” Ken said.  .. 
  • My online response to the column:
    • My comment:  I, too am concerned by citizens trying to have someone removed for their beliefs. And, citizens can object to these beliefs to include boycotts and protests. Enforcement of the new Market rules may help reinforce needed civility.
    • My concerns is the coverage of this issue by the local media including Rich Jackson. In an earlier column, he stated: “Trust me. I spent more time than I wanted researching this poison. Sarah Dye is a racist and a white supremacist.” He reinforces his opinion in this column where he refers to the owners of SCF as “ white supremacist identitarians.”
    • Sarah Dye has publically and repeatedly denied being a white supremacist and has publically shared her definition of “identitarian” that contrasts with the definition being applied by Mr. Jackson. Herald-Times reporter Laura Lane in her Aug 3, column “Don’t forget the First Amendment,” stated at the time that “there was no direct evidence that the owners of Schooner Creek Farm are white supremacists.”
    • Given that there are no criminal statutes governing “beliefs,” what are the standards being applied by the Herald-Times in arriving at their assessments and opinions? For example, will Market attendees this year that do not support the boycott of the Market advocated by a protest group (Black Lives Matter), be considered “supporters” of SCF and everything they may or may not stand for? What are the risks to the actual customers of SCF regarding guilt by association related allegations?
    • Given the time and research that Rich Jackson and Laura Lane have devoted to this issue, better-published guidance related to the journalistic standards that are used in arriving at their published opinions might be helpful. This information could help readers and potential customers of the Market to asses their risks of running afoul of the standards being applied by the local media.

Mar 11, 2020.  Schooner Creek Farm and uncompromising moral certainty by Scott Tibbs.  A conservative perspective.

Apr 2, 2020. Red ice TV. In Defense of America’s European Roots. Interview – Michelle Malkin. Michelle Malkin is a blogger, conservative syndicated columnist, and author. She’ll discuss how she went from a neo-con to America First nationalism, writing about mass immigration and demographics, which has made her untouchable to some fake conservatives.

    • Michell Malkin also spoke at the America First Political Action Conference (AFPAC) as did Patrice Casey of the American Identity Movement (AIM).

Apr 2, 2020. YourNews Now CBS 4. Bloomington Farmers’ Market opens virtually amid COVID-19 pandemic

Apr 14, 2020.  WTIU. City Of Bloomington Responds To Schooner Creek Farm Lawsuit  By ADAM PINSKER

    • The city of Bloomington is countersuing, alleging Schooner Creek broke its 2019 farmer’s market contract by allowing unauthorized vendors to run its booth, but the city renewed Schooner Creek’s contract for the 2020 season.
    • According to court documents, the city says it suffered damages due to lost time and wages defending itself from Schooner Creek’s lawsuit

April 15, 2020, IDS. City responds to Schooner Creek Farm lawsuit, asks court to rule in its favor By Joey Bowling

Apr 15, 2020. Herald Times.  Lawyer: Market vendor contract prohibits suing city By Laura Lane

May 6, 2020. B Square Beacon  Bloomington city council condemns racist hate: “We don’t want to overlook what’s happening today, while we’re trying to fix yesterday.” By Dave Askins

    • Sims told The Square Beacon previously, that he supports he Black Lives Matter boycott of the farmers market. “I support the farmers market boycott call, and I will not visit the farmers market as long as known white supremacy advocate are vending…”

  • July 7, 2020. New Farmers’ Market To Debut On Bloomington’s South Side This Weekend  By EMMA ATKINSON .

    • The Bloomington Winter Farmers’ Market will open ‘BWFM in the Summer’ this Saturday with many vendors that have previously attended the City of Bloomington’s Saturday

    • farmers’ market, which is ongoing. Both markets take place Saturday mornings.
    • Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton has said that the city cannot ban Schooner Creek Farm
    • from the city market because it would a violation of the First Amendment.  … Activists have since called for the formation of a private market specifically to avoid any Constitutional issues.
    • The accused vendor, Schooner Creek Farm, is still selling at the Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market this season. Schooner Creek Farm co-owner Sarah Dye has admitted to being an Identitarian, an ideology which researchers say is largely xenophobic and anti-diversity.

Sep 13, 2021. Local farmers markets see increased attendance, COVID-19 restrictions lessen by By Lauren Ulrich

2021. Schooner Creek Farm chose not to participate in the Market in 2021.

July 21, 2022. WTIU.  In Schooner Creek Farms v. City of Bloomington, federal court sides with the city By Bente Bouthier

3 thoughts on “Farmers Market Controversies: For the Record”

  1. Pingback: Defining the problem – white privilege | Independent Voter of Brown County IN
  2. Pingback: Part 3 – Discord in the community – better strategies needed? | Independent Voter of Brown County IN
  3. Pingback: Bloomington, IN Farmers’ Market – Summary of Key Facts | Independent Voter of Brown County IN

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