Members of the U.S. National Social Movement, the country’s largest neo-Nazi organization, plan to take over the tiny North Dakota town of Leith, while other residents of the town are protesting.
According to USA Today 61-year-old Craig Cobb targeted the area because of it’s small population and planned to buy enough land to take over the local government.
Cobb, a self-proclaimed white supremacist who is wanted for hate crimes in Canada, has been buying properties in Leith over the past year and encouraging other supremacists to move into them.
"We have every intention of legally assuming control of the local government," said the organization’s leader Jeff Schoep, who calls it an “act of good faith”, Christian Science Monitor reports.
An anti-racism group called UnityND also plans to visit the town Sunday and Monday in protest of the group. Local police expect about 350 protesters at the event, but they do not expect any violence to break out.
Councilman Lee Cook says he has not gotten a lot of support from the government in stopping Cobb, so he has created a website to try and get the town’s support against the white supremacists.