Citing the death of Heather Heyer at the hands of "an extremist demonstrator" at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017, Siemon encouraged people to "learn from that tragedy" and avoid demonstrations of hate, she said.

"Hate groups thrive on the free publicity they receive from confrontations," Siemon said in the release. "They encourage violence against others – in practice as well as in theory."

Siemon asked East Lansing residents to attend the Celebration of Diversity, which will be held at All Saints Episcopal Church on March 5. The Celebration of Diversity falls on the same day Spencer is scheduled to speak at MSU.

The Celebration of Diversity "will be a safe place and secure environment where we can support diversity and stand up to hate groups, in the company of friends and neighbors," Siemon said.

Siemon could not be reached for comment at the time of publication.