![White supremacists during the Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville this year. [Image via Anthony Crider/Wikimedia Commons]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2017/10/25/660x290/b_502x220x82/white-supremacists-during-the-unite-the-right-rally-in-charlottesville-this-yearimage-creditsanthony-criderwikimedia-commons_1655093.jpg "White supremacists during the Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville this year. [Image via Anthony Crider/Wikimedia Commons]")
The usually quiet and serene neighborhood of Shelbyville, tennessee will this weekend be the venue of the "White Lives Matter Rally," a follow-up event to the "Unite the Right Rally" held in Charlottesville in August. Residents of the area, especially the Shelbyville Housing Authority neighborhood, are worried that the rally will bring with it chances of violence breaking out, similar to the scenes witnessed in Charlottesville, CBS News reported. Another reason the residents of Shelbyville are pensive is that the rally will be held at an intersection near their neighborhood, which is home to different races.
This will make the possibility of counter-protests a reality.
Choice of venue
According to one of the organizers of the rally, Brad Griffin, the city of Shelbyville, which has a population of 21,000, was not chosen by accident. The rally will double up as a protest of area residents, for allowing their neighborhood to be turned into a "dumping ground" for refugees.
Griffin, a member of the League of the South, said the rally was prompted by the recent church shooting in Antioch, Tennessee. The shooting took place last month, and the perpetrator, Emmanuel Kidega Samson, was a Sudanese refugee. The shooting claimed the life of one woman and injured seven others, all whites. Griffin said that another reason the venue was chosen was because of the area's law enforcement.
He believes they will keep counter-protestors away, unlike in Charlottesville, where one person was killed. Organizers said they will hold a second demonstration on the same day, in Murfreesboro.
Local authority efforts
Shelbyville City Council passed a resolution this past week, in which the Council committed to supporting local law enforcement efforts to prevent damage to property and keep residents and protestors safe.
The Council also acknowledged the need to uphold the rights of the protestors and counter-protestors regarding free speech. The resolution was signed by the city's Mayor, Ewing Wallace Cartwright, but it did not denounce the white supremacist ideology.
According to Shelbyville laws, a permit is not required if a rally is to be held on the sidewalk, which the organizers of the rally plan to do, USA Today reported.
Murfreesboro, on the other hand, is not as welcoming, and the prospect of granting a permit to the organizers of the rally is yet to be determined.
In his statement, Mayor Shane McFarland denounced the White Supremacist's ideology. Some members of the city are already up in arms and campaigning against the rally.
