Minnesota

After Permit Approved for Whites-Only Church, Small Minnesota Town Insists It Isn't Racist

City leaders said if they had turned down Asatru Folk Assembly, they would have faced an expensive legal battle

NBCUniversal Media, LLC

When the church doors open, only white people will be allowed inside.

That’s the message the Asatru Folk Assembly in Murdock, Minnesota, is sending after being granted a conditional use permit to open a church there and practice its pre-Christian religion that originated in northern Europe, NBC News reports.

Despite a council vote officially approving the permit this month, residents are pushing back against the decision.

Opponents have collected about 50,000 signatures on an online petition to stop the all-white church from making its home in the farming town of 280 people.

“I think they thought they could fly under the radar in a small town like this, but we’d like to keep the pressure on them,” said Peter Kennedy, a longtime Murdock resident. “Racism is not welcome here."

Read the full story at NBCNews.com

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