With a politically charged rally planned in Fishers for August 1, Mayor Scott Fadness sat down with me at City Hall for a wide-ranging podcast conversation about free speech, public safety and what he sees as the proper role of a mayor when national controversies land on the city’s doorstep.
A group called Save Heritage Indiana, led by organizer Daniel Poynter, has scheduled a rally for 7 p.m. August 1 at a location to be disclosed only to ticket holders shortly beforehand. Organizers say the event is about the rule of law; the Southern Poverty Law Center describes the group as anti-immigrant, a characterization Poynter disputes. Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith is expected to appear in video remarks, and a local group is planning a counter-protest.
Fadness said the city had no role in bringing the event here. “There’s been no coordination or conversation with City Hall,” he said, adding that there are aspects of the organization “I certainly wouldn’t personally agree with.”
The mayor said he has received a flood of emails demanding he stop the rally, and he pushed back on the idea that he could — or should — have that power. “When I swore an oath to serve this community and uphold the Constitution, I did not swear an oath to ensure that you’re never offended by what others may say,” he said. “People want me to do away with the events that they don’t like. But what happens if there’s someone else in this role and they have a very different opinion about things, and they start taking away events that you support?”
On private property, he noted, the city has no authority over content unless laws are broken. The Fishers Police Department is working to identify the rally site in advance so it can protect attendees and protesters alike.
Roughly 11.5 percent of Fishers residents are foreign-born — about double the state average — and members of the city’s large Muslim community have said they feel targeted by the event. Fadness said he hopes the culture Fishers has built “is far stronger than any one event,” and described his practice of keeping an open line of communication with the local mosque and other community groups.
Asked what success looks like on the morning of August 2, his answer was simple: “That everyone’s safe.”
The conversation also covers where protected speech ends and intimidation begins, the cost of a mayor’s silence, lessons from 2020, and Fadness’s advice for disagreeing with a neighbor — starting with finding what you have in common.
The LarryInFishers.com Podcast series is sponsored Citizens State Bank.
