Sarah Kloepping

USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Kim Geiser isn't taking a stance on the murder conviction of Steven Avery.

But she is taking a stand — as a supporter of Manitowoc.

"Making a Murderer" questions the validity of the convictions of Avery and his nephew, Brendan Dassey, both sentenced in 2007 for killing freelance photographer Teresa Halbach on the family's Manitowoc County auto salvage yard.

Since the Dec. 18 release of the 10-episode Netflix series, viewers worldwide have taken to the Internet to voice their largely negative opinions about local law enforcement, and, in some cases, the Manitowoc community as a whole.

"I think that's unfair," said Geiser, a Manitowoc native. "The only way to overcome those thoughts is prove to people who come that's not what we're like."

Geiser wanted to do something, so she talked to Courthouse Pub owner Jonathan Jagemann about providing coffee during a protest scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday near the Manitowoc County Courthouse. At least 100 Avery and Dassey supporters from different parts of the country are expected to attend.

"My Aunt Helen always had a pot of coffee on for anyone who stopped in. Didn't much make a difference who you were," Jagemann wrote on the downtown restaurant's Facebook page. "In that spirit, I offered to have a pot of coffee on at the Pub on Friday morning for anyone who stopped by.

"That's it; that's all. No taking sides, not political. I don't make judgments about things I do not know or that are presented by entertainment companies."

Geiser said some community members are taking the simple gesture of kindness the wrong way.

"(It's) just to be kind to people who are coming so they understand that the whole community isn't as horrible as it seems online right now," she said. "It's really nothing more than being kind instead of getting angry."

The Salvation Army of Manitowoc County also will be set up at the protest from about 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. providing coffee and hot chocolate.

"If you come to a community you've never been before and you're coming for a negative reason ... and the people who are living there treat you with kindness, you're going to leave with a different feeling about that town than when you came," Geiser said. "It's that simple."

Reach Sarah Kloepping at 920-686-2105 or skloepping@htrnews.com.