News & Events Event Reports

North America Regional Hub: Mayoral and City Leadership Against Hate, Extremism and Polarisation — Putting Communities First

Publication Date:

27/08/2000

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Event Reports

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faith leadersGlobal CrisesNorth America Regional HubOnline hatePittsburghTree of LifeUS Mayoral RetreatUS presidential election

— 49 minutes reading time

Summary

On 6 – 8 August 2024, the Strong Cities Network, together with the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary (PTS), hosted a retreat on ‘Mayoral & City Leadership Against Hate, Extremism, & Polarisation: Putting Communities First’ in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (United States). Mayors, deputy mayors, city councilmembers and other city leaders from around the country, as well as representatives from community-based organisations and other institutions in the Pittsburgh area, shared with and learned from each other about the approaches and innovations needed to maintain social cohesion and enhance community resilience amid rising levels of hate and polarisation. Many attendees shared that this was the first time they took part in a city-to-city learning event focused on addressing hate, extremism and polarisation at the city level.

The event – which was organised in cooperation with Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy, the Eradicate Hate Global Summit, the Muhammad Ali Center, the National League of Cities and the Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation – served as the official launch of the Strong Cities Network’s North American Regional hub.

Opening Remarks

Rev Dr Asa Lee, president of the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, welcomed attendees to Pittsburgh and its historic Theological Seminary, a 230-year-old institution. He noted that among its most prestigious graduates was Rev Fred Rogers, the host of the Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood television programme, who was a shining example of being ‘in ministry’ to all people, especially children. As a faith leader, Lee noted that his own role is to help heal relationships and troubled communities – and accordingly, he looked forward to participants engaging in peer-to-peer learning to address these same issues.

Eric Rosand, Executive Director, Strong Cities Network, underscored both the importance and urgency of this work given current events and the timeliness of these discussions: dramatic increases in antisemitism and anti-Muslim hate online since 7 October and, more immediately, an assassination attempt on former President Trump that served as a stark reminder of the real-world impact that rising hate, extremism and polarisation is having on democracy and social cohesion in cities and communities across the United States. With the upcoming presidential election, disproportionate attention and media coverage will focus on the national political discourse, but, he said, it is localities – big and small, urban and rural – that are on the front lines of the hate and political violence fomented by electoral polarisation. And given that mayors and other local elected leaders have a higher degree of trust in their community than country, state and federal leaders – often the byproduct of their consistent engagement and partnerships with community-based leaders and organisations across their cities – these leaders are uniquely placed to reduce inter-communal tensions and maintain social cohesion.

In hosting this retreat, Strong Cities hoped to provide city leaders the opportunity to identify practical ways to replicate, scale and sustain non-partisan, city-led efforts – both from those in Pittsburgh and around the country – to maintain social cohesion and promote civility in a period where the risks of increased polarisation and heightened tensions within communities across the nation are so heightened. 

Several key themes emerged from the discussions:

• The threat landscape impacting communities stem from an increasing array of challenges, from the Israel-Gaza conflict, migration, anti-LGBTQ+ hate and rising levels of anti-establishment sentiment – all exacerbated by narratives online aimed to stir division.
• In the wake of the Tree of Life tragedy, Pittsburgh came together to demonstrate what a whole-of-city approach to counter and respond to hate can look like, leveraging existing institutions, creating new organisations and inspiring young leaders to all work together with a singular vision to fight antisemitism and other hate, promote healing and reconciliation and strive to prevent such atrocity in the future.
• To ensure the safety of communities and maintain social cohesion, cities are taking innovative steps, emphasising the need for whole-of-city partnerships to facilitate information sharing, violence prevention and crisis response. Cities are also leveraging mediation and conflict resolution platforms, including services available from local networks on community-based organisations and other civil society actors, in the face of global crises and taking other steps to reduce political and other polarisation.
• Faith leaders, whether formally serving in government or partnering on specific initiatives, are a critical force multiplier for cities as they continue to look for ways to address hate and polarisation within and between communities. City and faith leaders share similar goals of service provision and communal cohesion, so partnering is a mutually beneficial enterprise. Strong interfaith connections are a particular asset following crisis, whether the October 2018 attack at the Tree of Life or the local fallout from the Israel-Gaza conflict.
• City leaders face a tough balance between allowing for free speech (even hateful speech), ensuring public safety and working towards community cohesion. Cities are deploying public safety community health workers, police dialogue units and de-escalation tactics and legal measures to protect both protesters and protest target areas to maintain this equilibrium.
• Local leaders need to develop key partnerships and strategic messaging that they can then leverage in real-time during a crisis or hate incident, whether related to ongoing protests or mass attacks. Mayors should ensure synchronicity with the police chief and ensure the city is speaking with one voice, especially during times of uncertainty. This might necessitate having the mayor assume control of city-wide communications. That said, mayors should also empower community leaders to speak publicly about their own perspectives on unfolding crises and provide spaces for grief and expressions of grievance, while still upholding the rule of law.

Threats & Key Challenges

City officials and practitioners shared their perspectives on the on- and offline threat landscapes impacting their communities related to the Israel-Gaza crisis, migration, climate and rising levels of anti-establishment hate and targeted violence.

Some cities struggle with rising levels of intolerance. For example, Mayor Rory Hoskins of Forest Park, Illinois shared how the COVID-19 pandemic led to a significant increase in online hate directed both at him personally and at Forest Park’s LGBTQ+ community, which is the largest such population per capita in the state of Illinois. The city also hosts an annual German cultural festival – celebrating the town’s roots as a German immigrant community – which attracts neo-Nazi and white nationalist groups from the surrounding area.

In nearby Chicago, Illinois, City Clerk Anna Valencia said that a pre-COVID influx of new migrants led to tensions in the city’s Black and Latino communities and even within immigrant communities themselves. Though the friction revolved around issues related to work permits and not ethnic or racial characteristics, the communal tensions were no less real and remained just as salient for city leaders to address. As part of an effort to ease migrant integration into the wider community, her office introduced CityKey, a legal identification card available to all residents, regardless of immigration status, which facilitates access to libraries, utilities and other city services.

Anti-government attitudes also pose a challenge in some cities. Mitch Gruber, city councilmember in Rochester, New York recounted how in the midst of the racial reckoning following the death of George Floyd in the summer of 2020, the killing of a local Black man in police custody, Daniel Prude, sparked massive protests. And though the demonstrations subsided, “What remains is a deep distrust in government, which is at the root of so many issues mayors are dealing with”. Gruber said that online and offline incidents continue to contribute to this distrust and the new city leadership is trying rebuild that trust and be a “stable and thoughtful” presence in service to the community.

Above all, city leaders articulated that the most salient issue in recent months were those related to the conflict in the Middle East and the effect that this and other global crises can have on local politics and communities.

For example, Mayor Ravinder Bhalla of Hoboken, New Jersey said that the local Jewish community in his city continues to face harassment and vandalism, particularly at houses of worship. Even routine city council debates about affordable housing prove divisive, with residents accusing city leaders in favour of such measures as “socialist and pro-Hamas”.

Similarly, Mayor Nancy Rotering of Highland Park, Illinois said that her community – still recovering from the Independence Day Parade shooting in July 2022 – was “truly traumatised” by the events on 7 October, with many residents having family members who were killed or captured. She shared that subsequent incidents of antisemitic graffiti and anti-Israel protests further distressed the local Jewish community.

Mayor Steve Patterson of Athens, Ohio – home to Ohio University and an engaged activist student body and progressive community – said that the campus was the scene of demonstrations about the conflict, but that his decision to ensure law enforcement did not have a visible presence allowed the demonstrations to remain peaceful.

The Pittsburgh Prevention Model

A key feature of hosting the retreat in Pittsburgh was the opportunity for participants to learn more about the ‘Pittsburgh Prevention Model’ and how all sectors of the city came together to respond to the 2018 shooting at Tree of Life synagogue – the most lethal antisemitic attack in American history – to show that Pittsburgh is ‘Stronger than Hate’. Elected officials, community leaders, non-profit organisations and residents collaborated not only in immediate response and long-term recovery, but dedicated efforts to help ensure that this tragedy would not repeat again and that no community in the United States, or even globally, should have to suffer as they did.

Describing the city’s current efforts, Rachel Heisler, Controller, City of Pittsburgh said the city’s leadership recognises that it is a very scary time for many communities – immigrants, Jewish people, LGBTQ+ and more – and what leaders can do is first and foremost is see it, call out hate for being hate and be in allyship with those being targeted. The most rewarding part of her work, she said, is making Pittsburgh a welcome place for people to live, learn and build community.

Lisa Frank, Chief Operating and Administrative Officer, Pittsburgh, cited Talmudic literature as the model for Pittsburgh’s response to hate and targeted violence: in times of crisis, there are those who call for a ‘walls up’ approach – building defences to shield from attack – while others argue for ‘walls down,’ increasing partnership and engagement to build strength in numbers in tough times. The city’s ‘walls up’ efforts include law enforcement working with the United States Department of Homeland Security to understand the evolving threat landscape, assisting community institutions with site vulnerability assessments and raising awareness on community safety measures.

She said Pittsburgh equally embraces ‘walls down,’ stressing the importance of mending between communities and recapturing the sense of cross-community solidarity seen during the 1960s Civil Rights era in the United States to replicate it for the current moment.

Bill Peduto, former mayor of Pittsburgh and senior advisor to the Strong Cities Network, shared his own experience leading the city following the October 2018 mass attack. As mayor, he learned that a city’s role is to bring local partners together early on and understand how they fit in the larger mosaic – a mayor is a “conductor overseeing the orchestra”. And in the wake of that tragedy, he emphasised that city leaders must be proactive and share what they’ve learned and how they understand the hate and extremism that is happening in our communities – the goal of this retreat.

With regard to the attack itself, Rabbi Jeffrey Myers of the Tree of Life congregation, who survived the shooting and became the face of the Jewish community’s response, shared his story and how he found strength in God to be part of a long-term solution. In those efforts, he said that he found taking control of one’s trauma is essential, as is holding on to hope – “hope in a better tomorrow, hope that evil can be defeated”. And after the trial of the now-convicted and sentenced attacker concluded last year, he said the community was finally able to turn the page: Rabbi Myers hosted a healing service open to all of Pittsburgh, with five bishops seated in front as a strong show of interfaith support. Following the service, he said attendees stayed in the sanctuary for an additional hour – “strangers talking to each other and healing together … demonstrating the best of what it means to be a community”.

Participants shared about some of the institutions that were created in the city in the wake of the attack. For example, Michael Bernstein, Board Chair, Tree of Life Inc., spoke about how his organisation was founded because synagogue members sought to fulfil a broader set of goals: to memorialise the victims, to ensure Jewish continuity at the temple location and to be a voice for the Jewish people globally. He said that this organisation will house the first museum to focus on antisemitism broadly and work to build bridges across all communities to raise awareness of how hate can manifest into violence.

Jason Kunzman, President and CEO of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh, which hosts the 10.27 Healing Partnership, shared that after the attack, community leaders travelled to Florida to learn from its ‘peers’ of mass attack survivors – the June 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida and the February 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida – and came back with insights on how to shape responses that are victim-centred and trauma-informed. To that effect, the 10.27 Healing Partnership acts as a resilience centre in service to the community and its needs. The Partnership’s Director, Maggie Feinstein, has helped forge a national network of resiliency centres – now 25 across the country – to help other communities in need. Participants underscored the importance of growing this network so that every city has access to such a resource.

Laura Ellsworth, Board Co-Chair, Eradicate Hate Global Summit, said that, in the wake of the attack, she found herself being asked by a variety of colleagues to connect them with others in the anti-hate space. So she, with backing from her employer, the law firm Jones Day, helped launch the summit to marshal together all diverse stakeholders combatting hate and extremism so they can find each other by themselves – and then collaborate throughout the year to produce concrete deliverables to advance the field.

In a similar vein, Susan Baida, Executive Director of the Center for Applied Research on Targeted Violence (CARVt, formerly the Collaboratory Against Hate) shared that her centre was founded as a partnership between Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh – both within one mile of the attack – to allow academics and scholars to play their role in preventing targeted violence. With the centre’s rebrand, Baida said it should now be clearer what its mission is for – not just what it is against – and that it is marshalling research towards concrete and applicable ends, from analysing violent language online and understanding the motivations of violent perpetrators to evaluating prevention practices and understanding the impact of hate-fuelled violence on communities.

Pittsburgh also benefits from an array of local leaders who launched their own enterprises to address similar issues. Nick Haberman, Founder and Director of the Light Initiative (‘Leadership through Innovation in Genocide and Human Rights Teaching’) said that after the attack – drawing on his experience as a high school teacher – he created the Light Initiative to train teachers and schools districts to devise transformative learning experiences for students to become good neighbours, good citizens and young humanitarians. These experiences are designed with input from students themselves, to allow young people to transform schools into safer and more inclusive communities. The Light Initiative has partnered with Eradicate Hate to stimulate more youth-led prevention models.

Highlighting how Pittsburgh’s approach to countering hate extends beyond the October 2018 attack, Leon Ford, Founder and Director of External Affairs of the Hear Foundation, shared his story of being shot multiple time by police officers using racial slurs after a routine traffic stop, which left him unable to walk. Despite his initial rage at law enforcement and even all white people, he eventually met with then Mayor Peduto, the Pittsburgh police chief and others to discuss his experience and what the city could do to build bridges. He founded the Hear Foundation to promote reconciliation and healing and to give voice to marginalised communities who often feel unheard by those in power.

Roberto Clemente, Jr., humanitarian, former broadcaster and professional baseball player, shared words of wisdom he received at a young age from his father: “Anytime you have the opportunity to use your voice and speak out and you don’t, you’re wasting your time”. When we see the common humanity in all of us and recognise that we all share the same fundamental desires for happiness and fulfilment, it allows us to build bridges for understanding and compassion that transcend any barriers. He spoke about the value of promoting dialogue and understanding between different groups and cultures, which can help overcome stereotypes and prejudices and build connection. City leaders can promote education and awareness about unity, which can help break down barriers that divide us. He concluded, “Be the buffalo – turn toward the storm and charge it”.

But it was not just new organisations and initiatives that came together in the wake of tragedy. A number of Pittsburgh’s legacy institutions also recognise their role in prevention and are making efforts to tackle the challenges that lead to hate, extremism and polarisation. Yvonne Maher, Executive Director, Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation spoke to the role that sports can play in bringing individuals and communities together and provide a non-challenging forum through which positive messages (e.g. ‘Stronger Than Hate’) can be channelled that foster a sense of shared community. All of Pittsburgh’s professional major league teams (Penguins, Steelers and Pirates) work together to represent the city as united community, from honouring Black history in sports to attending city marches to demonstrating support for equity and inclusion.

Dan Law, Associate Director of the Andy Warhol Museum, discussed his institution’s mission to connect areas of the city that are often disconnected and leverage arts and culture into prevention. After hearing from communities about what they would value most, the museum is leading a workforce development programme, working with young people from marginalised communities to find them economic opportunities and provide jobs training and learning – a positive upstream intervention to help prevent hate, extremism and polarisation.

Alison Beam, Senior Vice President and Chief Government Affairs Officer, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), discussed how UPMC seeks to build strong bridges with the surrounding community, offering staff opportunities to work with residents outside of a clinical setting through community service days or volunteering with community centres, which increased providers’ understanding of neighbourhoods’ circumstances while building connection points between them and residents.

Majestic Lane, Chief Equity Officer of the Allegheny Conference for community development – the first private-public partnership for economic development, dating back to the post-World War II era – discussed how in the wake of the George Floyd protests, local civic and corporate stakeholders came together to try to address the issues dividing communities, including by 1) promoting employment opportunities, 2) bringing diversity to the workplace and 3) broadening the definition of community health to address the underlying issues behind the divisions. He said that when communities function well, with collaboration between civic and corporate organisations, they can bring greater success for the city as a whole.

Key Themes

1. City-led Innovations and Solutions to Ensuring Communal Safety and Maintaining Social Cohesion

In the face of the threats and challenges outlined above, city leaders shared innovative efforts to both protect communities and ensure their safety, while also pursuing initiatives to ensure greater social cohesion and community integration.

For example, in Newark, New Jersey, Lakeesha Eure, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety, said that the city is invested in community safety as a means to tackle lingering issues of gun violence and anti-immigrant violent crime. Mayor Ras Baraka, she said, has instructed the various federal, state and local law enforcement agencies that operate in the city to work together and share information with each other and with the communities, including university research centres. She highlighted how Newark’s Brick City Peace Collective and the Newark Public Safety Collaborative coordinate data collection across city agencies, law enforcement, community organisations and researchers to ensure greater transparency and problem solving. Newark also invested in community safety by establishing an Office of Violence Prevention – reallocating 5% of the police budget to do so – and has hired social workers, outreach workers and other community health workers who operate from a police department facility. As part of this effort, Newark conducts ‘Trauma to Trust’ trainings for gang-involved individuals to learn certain community safety skills, including violence interruption. These individuals are then invited to community meetings to provide information on their community building activities and receive a stipend for their work. According to Deputy Mayor Eure, the programme is building bridges between at-risk individuals and the city, all in the name of community safety.

Moreover, recognising that targeted violence and mass attacks start with indications online, she said that Newark has created a community-based organisation that tracks social media to flag concerns to authorities when they see something disturbing online. Mayor Baraka also conducts Facebook Live chats twice per week to provide the community with the latest crime trend information and asks the community to speak up if they see something concerning on the social media pages of their family, friends or children.

Similarly, Mayor Dontario Hardy of Kinston, North Carolina said that in his city, law enforcement partners with the county to monitor threats online and works closely on violence prevention with the governor’s office for resources to reduce crime and combat hate. Together with an anonymous tip line to report hate or other crimes and conversations with community leaders to report on what they are seeing on the ground, these partnerships helps the city address situations before any violence breaks out.

Capri Maddox, Executive Director of LA Civil Rights, Los Angeles, California, highlighted that Los Angeles created this civil rights agency in 2020 to address the high level of hate crimes in the city, which often increase in election years. She highlighted the award-winning ‘LA for All’ campaign – available in 21 languages –which encourages residents to stand against hate and speak out to create a just and equitable city. More broadly, she noted how the department has built deep ties to community groups, including by providing $10 million for community-based organisations for programmes aimed at helping residents reach the middle class and beyond. It also has two advisory commissions – one on Black reparations and another on transgender issues – with 40+ commissioners and 35+ staff members who all serve as force multipliers for advancing the cause of civil rights and, consequently, community cohesion. According to Maddox, “These ties with community groups during peacetime, before any crisis, has been vital to the city to be boots-on-the-ground during times of tension”, such as the Israel-Gaza crisis. She said the team has the credibility to talk to community groups because of the groundwork they laid before any crisis broke out.

Regarding such crises, Randy Duque, Deputy Director of the Commission on Human Relations, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, said that the commission’s community relations team is primarily tasked with peace-making – particularly, conflict resolution and mediation. The team launched a human rights rapid response group – ‘Philadelphia for Peace’ – constituting the many ethnic, racial, religious and other community groups in the city, which can be leveraged during times of acute crisis. This group was utilised during the protests in summer 2020 and the commission worked with community groups, law enforcement, the National Guard and even protest leaders to negotiate between them to keep things relatively calm. Immediately following 7 October, he said the commission attempted to tap the group’s relevant partners, but recognised the environment was too fraught for coordinated action. Nevertheless, a few weeks later, local Jewish, Arab and Muslim groups identified community leaders who wanted to talk and approached the commission to facilitate dialogue – which the commission has been quietly doing ever since. Duque found that since his agency is part of the civil service – and not tied to any particular mayoral administration – it is reassuring to communities that they can turn to the commission and his team for the long-term to build a strong relationship to address their concerns.

Due to such crises and other divisive issues in the United States that can lead to political violence, especially in an election season, Julian Ramirez, City Councilmember-At-Large in Houston, Texas, discussed an ordinance that the city council is considering to ban targeted picketing within 200 feet of a target’s residence – not just elected officials, but of any protest target (e.g. abortion providers, community leaders, etc.). He also emphasised the need to address the societal polarisation that often results from such crises, highlighting an initiative that he is working on with a candidate he defeated for the city council seat from the opposing party to address this issue from a bipartisan perspective. The initiative is still in its early stages and he and his partner are in the process of garnering support from local organisations.

Graham Shelby, speechwriter at the Louisville Metro Government, Kentucky, discussed his city’s efforts to demonstrate communal cohesion and city-wide solidarity, including by sponsoring a feature film, City of Ali, which he directed. The film details how the death of Muhammad Ali – in the midst of the bitter 2016 presidential election – brought both the people of his hometown and the world together for one unforgettable week, with more than 100,000 people lining the streets of Louisville to celebrate his life.

Attendees also heard from non-profit partners on how they work with cities to advance social cohesion. Prabha Sankaranarayan, CEO of Mediators Beyond Borders International (MBBI) and founder of the TRUST Network, discussed her network of thousands of mediators and bridge builders nationwide. She encouraged city leaders to tap into the resources available in their own cities – philanthropies, democracy hubs, mediation hubs, etc. – who can be forums for the type of dialogues discussed. Similarly, Patrice O’Neill, Executive Producer of Not in Our Town, said that her group is working with MBBI and others to develop a ‘hate bias action team’ in select cities that will monitor which communities are being targeted by hate and then work with authorities on such incidents when victims and victim communities are too hesitant to report the incidents themselves. The initiative is still being piloted, but the hope is to scale it for replication across the country.

2. The Important Role that Faith Leaders and Interfaith Cooperation Play in City-Led Prevention and Response

The convening gathered faith leaders – including those who work on behalf of, or partner with, mayors and local governments – to discuss the role that they and their peers are playing with city leaders to address hate, extremism and polarisation.

Liddy Barlow, Executive Minister, Christian Associates of Southwest Pennsylvania, underscored that faith leaders can be leveraged by city officials to mutual benefit. As city leaders look across the community landscape, she said they should recognise the role that faith communities play, given that faith leaders are already share their goals: community cohesion, reducing violence, ensuring cities are good places for elders and children, etc. These are the ‘bread and butter’ of faith communities and city leaders recognising the expertise and experience in faith communities is a great partnership to build on.

Pastor Gil Monrose, Faith Adviser, Mayor’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Partnerships, New York, New York, said that part of his mission is to help city government leaders understand how to use and not misuse, the faith community to mutual advantage. America is somewhat unique since local government often relies on faith groups to deliver social services – e.g. vaccine drives, meals to the needy, etc.. The pastor advises city leaders a city needs to “properly fund the faith community to do the work that they do so well”.

Reverend Sean Smith, Senior Adviser to the Mayor for Faith Affairs, Atlanta, Georgia, echoed Pastor Monrose, expressing that faith communities are themselves social services. For example, in Atlanta, the city broke new ground in public-private partnership among the city’s Office of Sustainability and Resilience, local utility companies and corporate sponsors to designate a West Atlanta church a ‘resource hub’ in case of emergencies, installing solar power back-up generators on church grounds to enhance what the church was already doing.

Both Minister Barlow and Pastor Monrose advised that city leaders need to ensure that all elements of each faith community are at the table, as no religion is a monolith. City leaders should meet regularly – or have a means to directly connect (e.g. WhatsApp) – with those faith leaders and ensure that they update their list of key contacts regularly to ensure that the right folks are still at the table.

Given the setting, leaders spoke about the role that faith communities played in the aftermath of the mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in October 2018. Rabbi Aaron Bisno, Senior Rabbi of Temple Ohav Shalom and Founder/Director, Center for Interfaith Cooperation, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, spoke of how the wider faith community in Pittsburgh stood with the Jewish community after the attack. To sustain the bonds that served the community so well in 2018, he regularly invites religious communities and faith leaders new to Pittsburgh to his place of worship to build relationships and foster mutual understanding.

Wasi Mohamed, Chief of Staff to Congressmember Summer Lee (D-PA), who was the executive director of the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh at the time of the attack, said that the community response after the incident was so strong because the community already had deep-rooted relationships developed over time. It will be difficult to build this trust during a crisis, he cautioned. As a result, he stressed the importance of faith leaders putting in the work in times of peace and tranquillity, so it can be leveraged in times of crisis.

Similarly, these bonds were on display in the immediate aftermath of 7 October. Benjamin Aysan,Community Outreach Coordinator, Turkish Cultural Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, said that, upon hearing about the attack, his first text message was to Jewish community faith leaders. He then received a message from Rabbi Jeffrey Myers of the Tree of Life congregation asking to be notified if Aysan or his community faced any anti-Muslim hate as a result, as Myers was ready to stand with the Turkish Center. Unfortunately, many participants noted that the ties that they had worked hard to build between Muslim and Jewish communities in previous years in their cities could not withstand the polarising and trauma-induced environment that the Israel-Gaza crisis caused in their areas. They felt cities need to understand why these relationships weren’t strong enough to withstand the shocks of the crisis, so that these – and other inter-communal – ties can be rebuilt in a more sustainable fashion that can better withstand future shocks.

Mr. Aysan also shared an initiative that the centre has undertaken to increase community cohesion across Pittsburgh. Given the importance of bringing individuals from different communities together to enhance mutual understanding and, ultimately, societal cohesion, the centre launched ‘Knowing Each Other’, an opportunity for residents from different faiths to meet over dinner.

sOm Sharma, founder and president of the Alliance for Humanitarian Initiatives, Nonviolence and Spiritual Advancement (AHINSA), Monroeville, Pennsylvania, shared another example of a relevant faith-driven initiative. A community park hosts a ‘Peace Pole’ with a simple message: ‘Let peace prevail’. All communities are invited the participate and now the pole hosts the message in over 35 languages. He said that cities should cultivate a sense of ‘positive peace,’ which requires active participation from residents. One way to do so, he said, was for cities to leverage international days – such as the International Day of Peace on 21 September or the International Day of Non-Violence on 2 October – as opportunities to organise events around peace and nonviolence, including workshops to elevate peace in communities. In this vein, Not in Our Town has organised an annual United Against Hate week, to take place this year (21-27 September), where city leaders, local organisations, community members and others can choose from a range of activities – from holding a Unity walk or student rally to hosting a community potluck or interfaith dialogue session – to raise awareness and demonstrate solidarity against hated and division.

3. Cities Need to Balance Free Speech, Public Safety and Social Cohesion During Times of Local Protests

When confronted with protests, mayors and other local leaders face a tough balancing act: protecting the right to free speech and free expression – even if hateful or divisive; keeping residents safe and ensuring that both protesters and counter-protesters don’t veer into illegal behaviour or violence; and, all the while, trying to maintain social cohesion in this fraught environment. This balancing act is particularly challenging for mayors and other local leaders in the United States given the strong free speech protections in the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.

Bryan Dehner, Assistant City Manager, Overland Park, Kansas, shared that his city is no stranger to the delicate predicament of protest groups testing the limits of free speech: the Westboro Baptist Church – a virulently anti-LGBTQ+ group that loudly demonstrates at United States military funerals in protest of what they view as the country’s pro-LGBTQ+ policies – has long engaged in protests in Overland Park. By now, city officials and the group’s leaders know each other and understand the rules of the road of where, when and how protests are allowed to unfold, so the group is able to protest without incident. According to Dehner, Overland Park also struggles with aggressive – and organised – panhandling, which strikes at the same issues. He said city officials try to ensure that their response is fair, kind and done with empathy. Dehner added that works to connect public safety and the criminal justice system with the mental health system in the interest of community health and safety.

Other cities shared how they are facing this issue more immediately due to the ongoing Israel-Gaza crisis. For example, Allen Zipper, Director of Community Engagement, for City Council District 5 in Los Angeles, California, said that the city faced repeated demonstrations – at high-profile political fundraisers, the University of California Los Angeles campus and even Jewish houses of worship – which turn even more complex (and in some cases leading to violence) when counter-demonstrators show up. To ensure public safety going forward, the city is working on a number of fronts: establishing safety zones around houses of worship, health clinics and schools, where protesting within 100 feet is prohibited; displaying visible signage about what is, and is not, allowed during a demonstration and what constitutes an arrestable offense; and prohibiting certain items at protests. Mayor Karen Bass has also convened the police department, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), faith and community leaders and her own Civil Rights department to discuss what could be done to prevent and address these issues, what measures are allowed under the law and what guidance can be shared with the community.

To address these types of protests, cities are deploying innovative community and public safety mechanisms that were devised for these moments of tension. For example, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Nina Cooper, Community Empowerment Officer, Office of Equity and Inclusion, said that her office was founded to help the city to fight against hate and work better with community groups on public safety issues. Moreover, following the protests in summer 2020, the city created an entire cabinet department, Albuquerque Community Safety (ACS). It includes behavioural health workers who are charged with taking emergency service calls themselves, rather than police. When protests erupt, she shared that the city is able to leverage ACS to deploy its behavioural health workers to negotiate with activists and mitigate tensions. Although vandalism at recent student protests at the University of New Mexico resulted in the arrest of 16 people, Cooper said that Albuquerque has remained committed to community policing, de-escalation strategies and more broadly building relationships with faith and other communities to listen to their concerns “so the city could respond with emotional intelligence over reaction and reflexivity”.

Michael Schadek, Director of Regional Partnerships, Columbus, Ohio, said that when student protests broke out at the local Ohio State University campus, the city activated its police department dialogue unit to de-escalate the protests without incident. The unit – trained by Clifford Stott, a social psychologist and recognised UK expert in de-escalation tactics and effective crowd control – was founded in 2020 on the premise that public safety can actually be enhanced when police engage people in a non-confrontational manner and de-escalate situations.

4. Prepare Crisis Response Strategic Communications by Identifying Key Partners and Effective Messages Before the Crisis

Attendees took part in a scenario-based table-top exercise designed to explore the key communications role city officials and community leaders play in response to hate and extremist-motivated incidents and intensifying polarisation in their city, fuelled or exacerbated by global crises. Designed for a post-7 October environment, the exercise explored the key messages and partners cities need to leverage for effective communications in times of crises, particularly when an incident has the potential to divide a community or render a particular community vulnerable to retribution or retaliation.

In times of crisis, Allen Zipper of Los Angeles said that Mayor Karen Bass would put together a large group of community leaders and get consensus on what the next three to five action steps would be. She would then hold a press conference with those leaders behind her to make it clear what those action steps are and that they all are united behind it. He also said that during unfolding crises, law enforcement community liaisons and even police affinity groups can serve as strong points of contact to affected communities. Further, the city can demonstrate added support to victimised communities – not necessarily during an unfolding crisis, but afterwards in a show of solidarity and protection – through extra police patrols, mounted police and squad cars posted outside community centres or houses of worship, if appropriate for that community.

Mayor Steve Patterson of Athens said that “sometimes it is what’s not seen, rather than what is seen, that can be most effective”. For example, during Israel-Gaza crisis-related protests on the Ohio University campus, the police were deployed and monitoring the demonstrations, but they were deliberately out of sight so as not to inflame tensions and cause hostility with protesters. The protests remained peaceful and dispersed after the allotted time.

Mayor Nancy Rotering of Highland Park said that, in crisis situations mayors need to condemn any violence, show sympathy with this affected and demonstrate through both words and action that they can relate to what happened. As a corollary, they need to message clearly and early: “Here is who we are and what we stand for. Here is what we’ll allow and here is what we’ll do. And this is our expectation for our community”. That way, she said, residents “understand that you will allow for free expression while upholding public safety”. Accordingly, application of the law needs to remain consistent, regardless of who is demonstrating: for example, if posting materials on public property is illegal, that needs to be upheld, no matter how ‘vital’ the issue is to residents and affected communities.

Pastor Gil Monrose of New York City argued that city officials should feel secure enough to empower faith and community leaders to take the lead in certain circumstances, from organising vigils for the city to holding press conferences without city leadership present. If a particular community is affected by a crisis, city leaders should encourage community and faith leaders to speak independently and message to their community, “Yes, we are angry, but we are also engaged in finding solutions and not by taking matters into our own hands”.

Councilmember Julian Ramirez of Houston brought up the police scandal of Joe Campos Torres in the 1970s, where the beating and killing of a detainee by police led to riots. He said that one lesson from that experience is that the city needs a multi-agency disaster response, incorporating all tiers of federal, state, county and city government, including criminal justice agencies. Especially in the face of riots, he said, the public needs to understand that authorities will be there and that prosecutors will hold people accountable: both the original perpetrators of the initial offense on the one hand and any subsequent violent protesters on the other.

Mayor Ravinder Bhalla of Hoboken emphasised that city leaders need to distinguish between two phenomena: the people engaged in legally protected activity (even if disagreeable) and those engaged in violence, looting and/or the targeting of establishments. The latter requires a police intervention, with arrests and clear enforcement of the law. At the same time, however, cities do need to provide a safe space for protesters (and counter-protesters) to vent their feelings. If city leaders conflate these two groups, that can be dangerous: innocent people can be arrested, which will only stoke more anger, or looters will be allowed to proceed, which further undermines the rule of law. For traumatised communities, he said that he tries to assume the role of ‘Consoler-in-Chief,’ being present at vigils and meeting with victims and their families. In Hoboken following 7 October, the city raised the Israeli flag – not to demonstrate agreement with the policies of that government, but as a demonstration of solidarity with those in the community who are looking for acknowledgement and want to see their identity elevated and celebrated. The city also later raised the Palestinian flag to show the same sentiment to those affected communities.

Mayor Rory Hoskins of Forest Park shared his own example of how the personal mayoral touch can be affecting and effective. During summer 2020, in the midst of protests, a local young Black man died of a drug overdose in police custody. The mayor made a deliberate effort to impress upon police to identify the young man so he could personally notify the family. He then met with the victim’s loved ones and returned his possessions, which would have otherwise remained in police custody. Those small gestures, he believes, helped ensure that the incident did not spiral into a crisis.

Reverend Sean Smith of Atlanta said that mayors need to account for the differences in approaches (and political leanings) between local leaders and state leadership. This is particularly salient when progressive-leaning cities are based in more politically conservative states. In those circumstances, the governor might want to deal with an unfolding crisis with a harsh response against the mayor’s wishes. In that scenario, it is incumbent upon city leaders to articulate to both state leadership and their own communities that “a harsh response is not the local way”. He added that the mayor’s message needs to be amplified by trusted messengers who can convey to their respective local communities what the local response will be.

William Braniff, Director of the Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships, United States Department of Homeland Security, said that during a crisis, city leaders should expect that individuals – whether residents or outsiders – will try to exploit the situation to their ends. City leaders should therefore message to the community accordingly, “This is a divisive moment, people will try to exploit it to divide us”. Then, when it happens, there is a decreased chance of success since residents will have been forewarned and recognise the agitators’ message for what it is. He also noted that following an attack by a member of a specific community, there is an increased risk of vigilante attacks on all members of that community. In the years following 9/11, in Los Angeles, Deputy Chief Michael Downing would reach out to the local Muslim community to offer protection in a real sign of caring and concern.

Stacy Richardson of the National League of Cities recalled her time as the chief of staff to the mayor of Chattanooga. Following a mass shooting at a military installation in 2015, in the height of fear of ISIS attacks, the city struggled to find credible messengers to white nationalists who were beginning to mobilise for retribution to instruct tell them to stand down. City officials ultimately asked evangelicals leaders to convey that messaging to their communities, but felt uncomfortable drawing a connection between evangelical communities and white nationalists.

Randy Duque of Philadelphia said that police can make it clear to those mobilising to violence what their expectations are for peaceful demonstration and then having police correct demonstrators when they step out of those bounds. In his experience, this has helped keep situations peaceful. On the flip side, in times of crisis it is important for the city to provide resources (e.g. mental health, victims services) to those experiencing trauma and make it clear that they are ready to mediate so that vigilante action isn’t necessary. Similarly, while organic organising and vigils are natural, it is better for city leaders to reach out to community leaders to arrange events in advance to avoid ‘pop-up’ events that can leave officials unprepared and leave other communities feeling unsafe.

Patrice O’Neill of Not in Our Town echoed Mr. Braniff that the role of police chiefs is very important in a crisis. A mayor needs to sync messaging with the police chief, who can message both out (to the community) and down (to the rank-and-file). During a crisis, if there is a disconnect in messaging or behaviour among city leaders, the police chief and the officers on the ground, it can exacerbate a situation.

Prabha Sankaranarayan of Mediators Beyond Borders International emphasised the importance of preparedness: city leaders need to anticipate who the appropriate community connectors are who can help for any given circumstance. Moreover, she said that designating and training ‘violence interrupters or ‘peace teams’ – unarmed civilian protection forces trained in de-escalation – can be one of the most effective methods of keeping the peace during unfolding crises.

At the conclusion of the exercise, Miro Weinberger, former mayor of Burlington, Vermont shared his experience and lessons learned dealing with the fallout of the shooting of three Palestinian college students in November 2023. (See ‘Case Study: Burlington, Vermont’ text box.)

Next Steps

Following its launch, the North America Regional Hub will be building and deepening the Network’s engagement with more than 30 current member cities and many more in the membership pipeline, in the Hub’s initial focus areas of Canada and the United States. By channelling support through Regional Hubs, Strong Cities is able to offer local government leaders and practitioners a consistent and sustained resource to advance their prevention efforts and leverage the benefits of the global network.

Informed by the priority themes and concerns identified by cities across the region, as well as the practices and experiences of cities across the Network, the North America Regional Hub’s initial focus areas will include:

• Mayoral leadership in preventing and responding to hate, extremism and polarisation, strengthening social cohesion and promoting civil discourse and compassion.
• Strengthening local government capacities through tools and guidance for mayors and city leaders; capacity-building for city practitioners; and sharing of city-led, multidisciplinary prevention models that leverage existing service delivery for violence prevention and public safety.
• Threat analysis and monitoring across the online and offline environments, leveraging expertise of the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), which hosts the Strong Cities Management Unit.
• Identifying and sharing good practices across the Strong Cities Network.
• Building trust between cities and local communities through the design and delivery of tailored programmes that engage faith communities, young people, overlooked communities and civil society organisations.
• Navigating local impacts of global crises, such as conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, migration, mis/disinformation and conspiracy narratives, including those related to elections, which can fuel offline hate, polarisation and political violence.

This convening is the first of many city-to-city learning opportunities hosted by Strong Cities North America with upcoming ones scheduled for Columbus, Ohio (September 2024) and Victoria, British Columbia (October 2024). In addition, this retreat is the first in a series of annual convenings Strong Cities will be hosting with and at PTS as part of its three-year strategic partnership. 

Furthermore, practices that were shared at the retreat and captured in this event report will also be integrated into Strong Cities’ Resource Hub, a living library of guides and toolkits to on mayoral leadership and city-led action to prevent and respond to hate, extremism and polarisation.

Additional Resources

• Innovations in Prevention: Piloting Multi-Actor Frameworks in Small and Mid-Sized Cities in the United States, Strong Cities Network (July 2024)
• A Guide for Cities: Preventing Hate, Extremism & Polarisation, Strong Cities Network (updated May 2024)
• A Guide for Mayors: Preventing and Responding to Hate, Extremism and Polarisation, Strong Cities Network (updated May 2024)
• A Guide for City-Led Response, Strong Cities Network (updated May 2024)
• City-Led Response: Mayoral Leadership, Strategic Communications and Key Decision Points for Healing and Long-Term Social Cohesion, Strong Cities Network (April 2024)
• Global Crises, Local Impacts Initiative webpage, Strong Cities Network (undated)
• Global Crises, Local Impacts: Key Findings & Recommendations to Date, Strong Cities Network (April 2024)
• Navigating Local Impacts of Global Crises: Ten Considerations for Mayors and Cities – Lessons from the Israel-Gaza Crisis, Strong Cities Network (December 2023)

Participant Shared Resources

• Chicago CityKey Applicant Guide, Office of the Chicago City Clerk
• Unlock Chicago CityKey Resource, Office of the Chicago City Clerk
• The Philadelphia Civil Rights Rapid Response Team Summary and Playbook, Philadelphia Community Relations Division
• Partnerships for Peace Presentation, Philadelphia Community Relations Division
• RESTORE Help Line Flyer, Violence Prevention Network USA, Inc.
• RESTORE Project Information Fact Sheet, Violence Prevention Network USA, Inc.
• United Against Hate Week Participation Information, Not in Our Town

Donors & Partners

Contact Information

For more information on this event and the Strong Cities’ North America Regional hub, please contact the Strong Cities North America team at [email protected].