With hundreds of Black Lives Matter marchers expected to rally Saturday outside the Minnesota State Fair, the St. Paul police union is hosting a State Fair outing of its own on the same day.

Dave Titus, St. Paul Police Federation president, said the police union is encouraging people to visit the State Fair on Saturday and support vendors.

Without making specific mention of the planned protest, the union created a public Facebook event invitation after hearing through social media that people are afraid to attend the Great Minnesota Get-Together or “don’t want to deal with activities that are going to happen that day,” Titus said.

Rashad Turner, an organizer with Black Lives Matter in St. Paul, called the federation’s event “a knee-jerk reaction” and said his marchers will disrupt traffic but have no plans to enter the Fairgrounds.

“We’ve always been peaceful,” said Turner, who emphasized that a series of Black Lives Matter rallies around the state have gone off smoothly.

Turner said Saturday’s protest is intended to draw attention to how difficult it has been for vendors of color to get booths at the Fair, in addition to the inequalities that minority workers face statewide.

Although the State Fair has offered Black Lives Matter booth space in which to promote their views, Turner has rejected the proposal, citing concerns for the security of the volunteers who would work there.

Minnesota State Fair general manager Jerry Hammer said that would-be vendors don’t disclose their race when applying and that spots are competitive but open to anyone.

“At any time, there is a minimum of 450 applicants for food alone, for two or three open spaces,” Hammer said.

Of the six new food vendors this year, three are minority-owned.

Around noon Saturday, organizers expect 700 to 1,000 protesters to march up Snelling Avenue from St. Paul’s Hamline Park, at Thomas and Snelling avenues, to ticket gates in Falcon Heights in an attempt to disrupt traffic and opening-weekend sales. The 12-day State Fair begins Thursday and concludes on Labor Day, Sept. 7.

Fair organizers call the planned protest misguided.

Black Lives Matter activists have pressed their case on Twitter and Facebook using the hashtag #BlackFair, to a torrent of backlash.

“BlackLivesMatter is a legitimate and powerful movement, but I’m scared the #BlackFair protest will enrage more people than it educates/empowers,” wrote a social media user, whose comments earned nearly 30 “favorites,” or shows of support, on Twitter.

Protesters say Fair organizers have failed to collect or release data on the demographics of their workers, contractors and booth operators.

They say the Great Minnesota Get-Together hasn’t been so great at hiring minorities, who represent roughly 40 percent of St. Paul and Minneapolis residents.

“With my own eyes, every year that I’ve gone to the Fair, I just don’t feel and I don’t see that people of color are represented in the vendors that are there,” said Turner, who said he has received widespread support from people of all races on social media, as well as a handful of death threats.

Across Minnesota, “African-Americans are three times more likely to be unemployed or underemployed,” said Turner, 30, who grew up in St. Paul and as a teen worked for a State Fair spaghetti vendor. “I know a lot of African-Americans go every year. They spend their money. The State Fair could be a little more equitable.”

Even some Fair vendors of color are split on the question.

Longtime vendor Thomasina Petrus, who is black, sells cashew and apple brittle at a booth. She says some white vendors apply year after year to get into the Fair without success, just like minority vendors.

Applicants must show they have enough product to meet demand and have experience at smaller events, Petrus said.

“The Fair has always seemed to me to be fair to us,” she said. “It’s very hard to get into the Fair. But if you get in there, you stay in, which is a very cool thing.”

Sharon Richards-Noel, who has run the West Indies Soul Food booth at the Fair for 15 years, said every year is a new struggle. Minority vendors are largely grouped together in the International Bazaar, which she said gets less publicity and backing from Fair organizers than other food areas.

Not long ago, a State Fair police officer accused her of using a fake parking permit, she said.

“It was very embarrassing. He was yelling at me in front of people,” Richards-Noel said.

“Minnesotans on the whole need to wake up to the fact that everybody should be treated equally. It’s subtle. It’s very undercover,” she said. “I support the rally. It’s going to hurt my business, but people have the right to speak out. Things need to change in Minnesota, and I support change.”

But State Fair organizers insist that all vendors are subject to the same written application process, and the Fair never asks about the race of vendors.

“The truth is there’s all kinds of exhibitors of every ethnicity involved at the State Fair. Everybody’s there,” Hammer said in a recent interview.

Meanwhile, there’s been a noticeable uptick in ethnic fairgoers. As of Tuesday, more than 960 people had RSVP’d for the “Hmong Minnesota Day” at the Fair on Sept. 7 at Carousel Park, which recognizes the 40th anniversary of the Hmong in Minnesota.

Energized by high-profile racial incidents across the country involving police, Black Lives Matter groups have participated in a series of disruptive but nonviolent protests in the Twin Cities over the past year.

St. Paul police have mostly acted as marshals for the events, allowing for two marches this year to proceed without arrests.

Fairgoers will be able to get into the Fairgrounds on Saturday, said St. Paul police spokesman Sgt. Paul Paulos. But the amount of disruption they might experience “can’t be answered until that day,” he said.

“We’re planning on a safe day,” Paulos said. “We want to give people the right to practice their First Amendment rights. We will preserve public safety and we will make sure it’s done in a proper manner.”

Mara H. Gottfried contributed to this report. Frederick Melo can be reached at 651-228-2172. Follow him at twitter.com/FrederickMelo.