FARGO — Area officials and organizers of what is being called a community celebration planned for Friday stressed that precautions are being put in place in case people with violent motives show up for what is intended to be a peaceful event.
Those precautionary steps include plans to surround Fargo city buildings with police officers and National Guard troops, placing concrete barriers in front of Fargo City Hall and boarding up windows at the Fargo Police Department and elsewhere.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz activated the Minnesota National Guard to provide safety and protection for the western edge of the state across the border from the Fargo area.
“Local law enforcement authorities are aware of credible threats of violent activities during demonstrations planned in North Dakota that could impact nearby Minnesota communities, and have requested assistance from the Minnesota National Guard to help provide security and preserve public safety,” a release from the governor’s office reads. “The National Guard Adjutant General will work with local government agencies to provide personnel, equipment, and facilities needed to respond as necessary.”
To underscore the unifying aim of Friday’s event, it is being called “OneFargo.” It is planned to run from 1-3 p.m. in Island Park.
Organizers initially planned a march and sit-in protest at Fargo City Hall, but after talks with city officials, they agreed to confine the event to Island Park and forego protesting in an effort to avoid a repeat of Saturday, May 30, when a day of peaceful protest turned into a night of rioting.
Saturday’s demonstrations and riot in Fargo mirrored similar situations in cities across the United States following the death of George Floyd on May 25 while in the custody of Minneapolis police.
Local officials said Thursday they were aware of threats targeting Friday’s event.
Speaking at a news conference Thursday, Moorhead Mayor Johnathan Judd said he spoke with Walz on Wednesday. Judd said the National Guard will not adopt a high-profile presence Friday, but it will be available if needed. He did not share specifics about the threats officials have become aware of in regards to Friday’s planned event.
If people with violent intentions do show up for Friday’s event, they will stick out like sore thumbs and be made to feel unwelcome, said Wess Philome, who spoke at Thursday’s news conference along with other black leaders and city officials, including Fargo Mayor Tim Mahoney and Fargo Police Chief Dave Todd.
Philome said because of successful meetings with city officials, planners of Friday’s event will not take to the streets. He said he hopes the cooperation taking place in the Fargo-Moorhead area will become an example to the rest of the world.
Fellow organizer Angelina Zokego agreed.
“They heard us,” Zokego said, adding: “That’s what you call a community that wants unity, that wants peace.”
Mahoney and other leaders underscored the progress made this week and vowed such conversations would continue in the future.
“We want our community to be a community people want to live in,” Mahoney said.
Todd agreed, stating the talks were a first step “in what needs to happen here.”
Fargo City Hall, the downtown Fargo Public Library and Fargo Municipal Court will be fully closed on Friday in response to received threats.
The Fargo City Commission called a special meeting Thursday night to extend the emergency declaration issued by Mahoney on May 30 to 11:59 p.m. on Monday, June 15.
If the extension is approved, city commissioners could terminate the declaration sooner than Monday night or extend it further, depending on circumstances.
