Two Fishers businesses agreed to host the anti-immigration rally that drew a large counter-protest to the city on Aug. 1, then pulled out — and the event’s organizer is now accusing the Fishers Police Department of leaking word of his venue troubles to the press.
Both revelations come from an interview published early Wednesday by the Indianapolis Star, which spoke with Save Heritage Indiana co-founder Daniel Poynter about how the event — billed by organizers as the first U.S. mass deportation rally — came together. IndyStar politics reporting intern Lucy Tobier reported the story.
Poynter told IndyStar the group originally lined up two different venues in Fishers, but both backed out. He declined to name them.
“While the business owners liked us, and they wanted to give us a space, it was just too costly for them,” Poynter told the Star. “They don’t want to get dragged through the mud by these people.”
The rally never happened in Fishers at all. As protesters gathered there on Aug. 1 chanting “no hate, no fear,” roughly 130 vetted guests were directed by email to a tent in Colfax, about 45 miles away, where former U.S. Border Patrol commander-at-large Greg Bovino headlined the program. Save Heritage later described the shifting location reports as a “wild goose chase” in a post on X.
The second disclosure in the IndyStar story concerns law enforcement. Poynter said Save Heritage shared its security plans with Fishers police, and told them the group was having trouble locking down a venue. A day later, the local news site Indy Politics posted on X about those same venue struggles. Poynter told the Star he believes the Fishers Police Department leaked the information.
“The people on the left can march around and do their thing but we can’t,” he told IndyStar. “The government isn’t protecting us.”
Fishers police and a spokesperson for Mayor Scott Fadness did not immediately respond to IndyStar’s requests for comment on the allegation.
Poynter also told the Star that two private security firms scheduled to work the rally backed out over “safety concerns,” and that his group forwarded several death threats to the FBI. IndyStar’s request to attend the event was denied.
The rally exposed a split among Indiana Republicans. Gov. Mike Braun and Sen. Jim Banks declined to give recorded remarks, while Attorney General Todd Rokita and Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith spoke virtually. Co-founder Nathan Roberts stepped down the day before the event over the group’s public criticism of Banks.
State Rep. Jim Lucas, who attended, told WIBC on Aug. 3 that the secrecy — attendees were driven through cornfields in vans — was “too secretive” for his liking.
Poynter said Save Heritage is just getting started, and is assembling a guide for organizers in other states who want to hold similar events.
Full credit for this reporting goes to Lucy Tobier and the Indianapolis Star. Read the complete story at this link. You will likely need an IndyStar online subscription to access this story.