When a public official in a small Oklahoma metropolis confronted a censure vote that condemned his current ties to White nationalism, he was saved – not less than briefly – by a Black man.
A number of residents in Enid blasted metropolis council commissioner Judd Blevins at a public assembly final fall for taking part within the 2017 “Unite the Proper” rallies in Charlottesville, Virginia, that noticed one counter protester killed and dozens injured. Additionally they highlighted offensive feedback he was accused of constructing on-line beneath a pseudonym.
Others defended Blevins, saying he had a proper to free speech and rejected the censure effort as a political ploy fueled by Enid’s small progressive enclave.
However Derwin Norwood, the one Black commissioner on the town council, made an impassioned plea on the finish of the assembly, scolding the neighborhood for preventing relatively than forgiving. Norwood, who sits subsequent to Blevins on the council conferences, then requested him to face up, informed him he cherished him and gave him a hug.
Half the room erupted into cheers and applause. The opposite half sat in silence – or clapped politely.
“I noticed that in forgiving him, I freed myself from turning into what he was or nonetheless could also be,” Norwood informed CNN in an interview final week. “I needed to free myself.”
Moments later, the town council agreed to postpone the censure vote, a devastating blow to a neighborhood group of activists who’d been sounding the alarm about Blevins’ previous.
However the group, the Enid Social Justice Committee, moved ahead with its plan to gather sufficient signatures for a recall petition, finally forcing a particular election that’s being held on Tuesday.
Voters will determine whether or not to maintain Blevins – who has denied being a White nationalist, however has additionally made complicated statements about his previous – in his seat or elect a unique conservative in a race that’s thrown the town right into a deep ideological divide over questions of forgiveness, accountability and US historical past.
Blevins says he attended rally, denies White nationalism
Enid, positioned in northern Oklahoma, has a inhabitants of about 50,000 and votes overwhelmingly for Republicans. Town is thought for its towering grain elevators and is house to Vance Air Power Base.
Greater than a month earlier than Blevins was elected in February 2023, the native newspaper highlighted a 2019 report by Proper Wing Watch, a left-leaning group that displays far-right extremism. The report recognized Blevins because the Oklahoma recruiter for Id Evropa, a gaggle that has since disbanded and was described as a White supremacist group by the Anti-Defamation League.
The article largely went unnoticed, and whereas two native Democrats tried to confront Blevins concerning the situation at a candidate occasion shortly earlier than the election, Blevins nonetheless gained the race for Ward 1 by 36 votes. A complete of 808 votes had been solid.
When Blevins took workplace in Might, the small Enid Social Justice Committee developed a extra vocal marketing campaign to convey consideration to his current historical past, holding protests and talking up at metropolis council conferences. Kristi Balden, chair of the group, stated she was horrified when she discovered of Blevins’ connections to White nationalist exercise.
“It was very, very disturbing and horrifying,” she stated. “I believed, ‘How is that this nonetheless occurring on this yr?’”
Blevins acknowledges he attended the Charlottesville rallies, and he was noticed in a number of movies and images. At a candidate discussion board final week, Blevins stated he “felt it was vital to protest the elimination of statues of American troopers.”
“It’s vital to me,” he stated. “It’s our historical past. It’s our heritage. It’s who we’re.”
In 2019, the left-leaning group Unicorn Riot leaked hundreds of messages from individuals concerned within the Charlottesville rallies on the chat platform Discord. Among the many threads was a consumer who glided by the pseudonym “Conway – OK.” Proper Wing Watch later recognized the author as Blevins.
Blevins has publicly implied he was behind the net messages and disavowed them at a metropolis council assembly, however final month at a candidate discussion board, he additionally denied utilizing the pseudonym.
Blevins has additionally denied that he’s ever recognized as a White nationalist or White supremacist.
In a single message lower than a month earlier than the 2017 rallies, Conway wrote positively about Adolf Hitler, saying, “Hitler by no means would have allowed this sh*t.” Conway additionally wrote a derogatory assertion a few Jewish girl. The contexts of the posts are unclear.
And in a single message lower than two weeks earlier than the Charlottesville rally, Conway wrote: “I JUST CANT FEEL SAFE IF IM NOT PACKING AN AR WITH A 100 ROUND DRUM AND SPORTING MY SWASTIKA ARMBAND.”
‘I’m a unique man right this moment’
Blevins, who declined to talk to CNN for this story, vaguely responded to some unearthed moments from his previous at a metropolis council assembly on November 7. He cited the significance of First Modification rights however didn’t straight handle his alleged involvement with Id Evropa.
“It will be significant for the American individuals to advocate for what they consider in,” he stated, including, “If we discover ourselves having to make apologies once we train these rights, then we don’t have them.”
“I’m a unique man right this moment than I used to be yesterday,” he continued. “There isn’t any hate in my coronary heart. All there’s is the will to comply with the Lord. However I’m not going to apologize for issues I by no means was.”
Members of Enid Social Justice Committee jeered at his remarks, leading to a shouting match between one in all its members, the mayor, and Blevins. The social justice committee member was finally kicked out of the assembly.
Balden stated she didn’t consider Blevins’ feedback at that assembly had been real.
“If he actually felt that manner, he would denounce these organizations by identify. If he actually felt that manner, he would apologize for his involvement in all these actions,” she stated.
Blevins’ feedback had been additionally not sufficient to fulfill the town’s conservative mayor and others on the council. Two weeks later, they put the censure decision on the agenda, saying Blevins’ “failure to clarify and apologize” for his participation in Charlottesville “has continued to fester and has precipitated disruption and discontent among the many residents of Enid.”
After one other spherical of fiery public remark at a metropolis assembly on November 21, Blevins once more held his floor on talking freely about one’s values and convictions, however took a barely extra contrite posture, saying he opposed all types of racial hatred and discrimination.
“All of us have stated silly issues in our lives. We’ve stated issues that we remorse, and we’ve got particularly stated issues by means of the cellphone that when taken out of context could make you seem like a horrible individual. I’ve had among the worst moments of my life placed on blast to the world,” he added. “And if I’ve offended anybody in right here, then I ask to be forgiven.”
Moments later, Norwood provided that public forgiveness in what grew to become a pivotal second within the total debate over Blevins’ previous.
Balden described Norwood as a “good” and “forgiving” man however stated his embrace of Blevins gave extra momentum to the town council member and his supporters.
“I understood why Derwin (Norwood) did that on a private stage,” she stated. “It was very irritating for us, as a result of it felt prefer it type of modified the best way of what was occurring.”
For his half, Norwood, a self-identified average Republican, has no regrets. “I felt convicted,” he stated. “Up till that second, I struggled with it, however I forgave him.”
Blevins was additionally requested extensively about his previous by moderators at a candidate discussion board final week, the place he, at occasions, remained defiant about his private views.
“I’m against all types of racial hate and racial discrimination,” he stated. “However I’m not going to play this recreation the place I take issues that the media says are issues from America’s previous which might be now not issues right this moment and fake like they’re critical points. They’re not.”
Requested particularly about his ties to Id Evropa, Blevins argued his function as a metropolis council commissioner is just not related to a corporation that has disbanded.
“Now, if talking out towards what was being completed to this nation, what is constant… to being completed to this nation is against the law, then I’d gladly plead responsible to that,” he continued, saying he has tried to “push again on this anti-White hatred that’s so frequent in media and leisure.”
‘A wound with a Band-Assist being ripped off’
For the previous week, Blevins’ critics have been going door-to-door in his district, pointing voters to his historical past and asking them to vote for Cheryl Patterson, a longtime conservative.
Norwood, chatting with CNN months after his public embrace of Blevins, was additionally within the viewers on the candidate discussion board final week and felt Blevins didn’t do himself any favors.
He stated the election is within the fingers of the voters, and he’s tried to not weigh in together with his opinions an excessive amount of.
However he worries concerning the rigidity in Enid rising even thicker if Blevins retains his seat, saying Blevins may grow to be “identified nationally for hatred.”
“If Ms. Cheryl Patterson wins it, I consider there’d be a therapeutic course of,” he stated. “But when Blevins stays on the council and Ward 1 votes him in, it’s going to be like a wound with a Band-Assist being ripped off.”
For extra CNN information and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
