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The town hall on the upcoming National Socialist Movement rally on April 18 at Brandon Park, which was scheduled for 7 p.m. today at Pennsylvania College of Technology's Klump Academic Center auditorium, has been postponed, Mayor Derek Slaughter said.
The town hall meeting postponement was due to the precautionary measures to reduce the spread of coronavirus, Slaughter said in a statement released Monday.
The mayor issued an executive order last week to stop any public gatherings of 250.
Chief of Police Damon Hagan said the town hall was going to be a night when various law enforcement personnel explain what efforts they are taking to ensure public safety during the Brandon Park rally and reiterate how there would be a counter-rally "Dare to be Different" held during the same day at Bowman Field.
The counter-rally would be one of peace, love, unification and solidarity against hate, Hagan said. It, too, would have a police presence for those feeling vulnerable, he said.
Any other meeting postponements related to city business will be determined by the mayor and City Council President Randall J. Allison.
Slaughter also canceled an earlier talk at a local church Sunday regarding the neo-Nazi rally due to the pandemic. An organizer said she urged the mayor to speak out of worry for her community.
"A lot of people from this area were concerned," Vanessa Baker, missionary of hospitality and youth at Freedom House Community Worship Center, said. "We know what they're doing, but my people are saying that they're going to do some things."
"I'm trying to keep the peace in the city, that's all -- we're trying to keep everybody safe," she added.
While she understands that the mayor has no right to stop any gathering based on the content of their ideology, Baker said she wanted the mayor to convey that to her church's attendees.
"There's nothing we can do, we understand that there's the freedom of speech, we know all about that," she said. "I'm just asking that all my low income people keep your head straight, don't allow this to get you in jail and away from your family."
Baker said she encourages people to ignore the group and refrain from taking pictures or going to the neo-Nazi rally.
"They have their rights and we have ours," she said.