By Sydney Byerly
The Indiana Citizen
August 4, 2026
Days after organizing what it called the nation’s first mass deportation rally, Save Heritage Indiana says it intentionally concealed the event’s location, limited attendance to vetted guests and hopes to use the gathering as a model for similar events nationwide.
In a lengthy statement posted Monday on X, Executive Director Daniel Poynter described the Aug. 1 event as a success and provided the organization’s first detailed public account of how it planned the rally after struggling to secure a public venue.
Poynter said organizers screened attendees, conducted background checks and limited attendance to 130 people.
“We vetted every single person who came through our doors,” Poynter wrote. “We allowed only 130 to attend the exclusive event.”
Save Heritage Indiana restricted media access to two news organizations during the event. Poynter’s post provided the first detailed public account from organizers about the planning and execution of the rally.
Poynter said organizers prioritized security after receiving what he described as threats and said two private security firms declined to work the event because of concerns about safety.
He also said organizers intentionally kept the location private and directed people they believed were attempting to disrupt the event to another location.
“We tricked the infiltrators into sending the mob on a wild goose chase to a library in the wrong town,” Poynter wrote.
The secrecy contrasted with a public counterprotest in downtown Fishers, where hundreds of demonstrators gathered believing the rally would take place nearby.
Julie Roberts, founder of Fishers Resists, rejected Poynter’s characterization of the group’s event as an effort to disrupt Save Heritage Indiana’s gathering.
Roberts said the Hoosier Hospitality March was a publicly announced, permitted community vigil focused on supporting immigrants and promoting civic values.
“It wasn’t a counterprotest. It wasn’t a covert operation, and it wasn’t an attempt to locate or confront Save Heritage Indiana’s event,” Roberts said. “We just really wanted it to be a place for Fishers to show up for immigrants.”
Roberts said portraying the gathering as an “infiltration plot” was false.
Fishers Resists organized the Hoosier Hospitality March with about 10 other community partners, Robert said, adding that the event was intended to welcome immigrants and reflect the diversity of Fishers.She pointed to the city’s growing immigrant population and said the march was meant to show that immigrants are part of the community.
Poynter’s statement suggested organizers faced challenges finding a location and said attendees remained despite “a little bad weather and a leaky tent.” IndyPolitics reported over the weekend the rally was ultimately held on private property in Clinton County after organizers explored possible locations in Fishers and Greenfield. Save Heritage Indiana has not publicly disclosed the exact location of the event.
Roberts said she was aware of online posts directing people toward a library location but said she was not aware of anyone affiliated with Fishers Resists attempting to locate or attend the Save Heritage Indiana rally.
“I honestly have seen on the internet and on Facebook there were posts sending people to Greenfield,” Roberts said. “But no one from Fishers Resists that I’m aware of actively followed.”
Roberts said the group’s focus was on the Hoosier Hospitality March, which she described as an event centered on supporting immigrants.
“Our event was about joy and inclusion,” she said.
Poynter’s statement also included claims that organizers faced threats and harassment from opponents. He said these included death threats and pressure put on venue owners.
Roberts said Save Heritage Indiana has not publicly provided evidence connecting those claims to Fishers Resists.
“Those are serious allegations, and if it’s true, they should report it to law enforcement and not just use it as a talking point in a fundraising or recruitment post,” she said.
In his post, Poynter repeatedly described opponents as being part of “the left” and accused them of attempting to sabotage the event.
Roberts pushed back on that characterization, saying the Hoosier Hospitality March was not organized as a partisan event.
“It wasn’t a left issue; it was a neighbor,” she said.
Roberts said those who attended included teachers, doctors, parents, teenagers and other community members who wanted to show support for immigrants.
She said the event also included a mutual aid effort that collected supplies for a local food pantry.
“There was such joy there,” Roberts said. “We saw immigrants on the sidelines waving at us and happy we were there.”
Although Save Heritage Indiana limited attendance at the event, Poynter portrayed it as the beginning of a broader effort.
“We have a template now,” he wrote. “We don’t just want to win in Indiana. We want to help patriots in every state take their own ground.”
He encouraged supporters across the country to contact Save Heritage Indiana about hosting similar events featuring former U.S. Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Greg Bovino, who spoke at Saturday’s gathering.
The event also featured prerecorded messages from international figures, including British politician Rupert Lowe, founder of Restore Britain, and Austrian activist Martin Sellner.
In his remarks, Lowe encouraged attendees to study Restore Britain’s proposals for mass deportations in the United Kingdom, arguing Western nations should remove immigrants who do not share what he described as their values or religion.
Sellner, a prominent figure in Europe’s “remigration” movement — a term used by some anti-immigration activists to describe policies aimed at removing immigrants from a country — praised the Indiana gathering as part of an international movement advocating for “remigration,” urging attendees to organize politically and continue demonstrating until “millions have left your nation.”
Poynter also highlighted support from Indiana elected officials.
He thanked Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith and Attorney General Todd Rokita for providing prerecorded video messages played during the event.
However, neither recording has been released publicly.
Before the rally, Beckwith’s office told the Indiana Capital Chronicle it would require a formal public records request before releasing the video. Rokita’s office did not respond to a request for the recording.
The Indiana Citizen has filed public records requests with both offices seeking copies of the videos.
Because Save Heritage Indiana limited media access to two news organizations and the recordings have not been released, it remains unclear what Beckwith and Rokita said during their appearances.
The organization’s website also features statements from Reps. Chris Jeter, R-Fishers, and Zach Payne, R-Charlestown, endorsing Save Heritage Indiana’s mission.
The rally also reflected Save Heritage Indiana’s emphasis on ancestry and national identity.
The organization’s website highlights the colonial lineage of its founders. Poynter identifies himself as a Mayflower descendant and a direct descendant of Patrick Henry. Nathan Roberts, who recently announced he was leaving the organization, has described himself as a Mayflower descendant whose family traces its roots to the Jamestown settlement.
A banner displayed at the rally quoted John Jay’s Federalist Papers No. 2, including a passage describing America as “one united people” descended from “the same ancestors,” speaking “the same language” and professing “the same religion.”
Save Heritage Indiana has said it intends to continue expanding its efforts beyond Saturday’s event.
“We are at war,” Poynter wrote, describing how the organization views immigration as an existential struggle for the country’s future. He called the rally “a massive win” and encouraged supporters in other states to contact the organization about replicating the model.
Sydney Byerly is a political reporter who grew up in New Albany, Indiana. Before joining The Citizen, Sydney reported news for TheStatehouseFile.com and most recently managed and edited The Corydon Democrat & Clarion News in southern Indiana. She earned her bachelor’s in journalism at Franklin College’s Pulliam School of Journalism (‘Sco Griz!).
The Indiana Citizen is a nonpartisan, nonprofit platform dedicated to increasing the number of informed and engaged Hoosier citizens. We are operated by the Indiana Citizen Education Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) public charity. For questions about the story, contact Marilyn Odendahl at marilyn.odendahl@indianacitizen.org.
