Resident warns commissioners of recruitment posters downtown tied to extremist tactics, asks they not be shown publicly

During public comment Oct. 7, Deborah Eastup of 1523 Johns Road told the commission she had found recruitment posters downtown that she believes mirror extremist groups’ tactics and called for the city to recognize and counter the recruitment patterns.

Eastup said the posters had appeared at Fifth Street and Twelfth Street locations and that she would provide copies to the clerk, but she asked that the images not be projected during the public meeting. “I actually don't want these put on the projector for the reasoning that a lot of times these types of extremist groups want attention even if it's negative,” Eastup said.

Eastup described a pattern she said extremist recruiters use — spotting despair, offering belonging, isolating recruits from supports, normalizing harm and then exploiting followers for a cause — and urged the commission to address the underlying social conditions she identified, including poverty, addiction and housing gaps. She said the tactic is national and that locally young white men are being targeted, and she linked recruitment patterns to broader social instability.

City attorney and staff consulted on whether the images could be excluded from public display; commissioners agreed to accept the written materials from Eastup and proceed without projecting the posters during the hearing.

The commission did not take formal action on Oct. 7, but Eastup said she would return to speak on separation of church and state at a future meeting and that she hoped commissioners would consider policy responses to recruitment and community prevention efforts.