Mayor Harris schedules community meeting Friday
Thursday, May 16, 2019 8:00 AM
Russellville Mayor Richard Harris has scheduled a meeting for 9 a.m. Friday at City Hall, located at 203 S. Commerce Ave., to discuss how the community addresses issues relating to hate groups.

“I’ve taken criticism from people because they said I have been silent, but I have been talking to our local police chief, sheriff, the Arkansas Municipal League,” he said. “I’ve been visiting with our local legislators about this issue. I have some ideas on what to do and I want to present it to the community in a non-confrontational way.

“We are going to talk about how we as a community need to address these issues to say we are not the community these groups represent, then form a plan of action to move forward. This is what we need to do to demonstrate we are a community united and they don’t represent us. We can have a calm rational discussion as to what we do as a community.”

A group of White Nationalists carried Nazi flags and shouted racial slurs throughout the May 5 March of Remembrance, an event designed to honor survivors and those who died in the Holocaust, at the Depot Park in downtown Russellville.