I am in a local leadership position of the most minor nature in comparison to all this. There is always somebody who gets up and makes an ourageous wrong headed accusation. When that happens, you must emphatically and immediately explain why that person is totally off base. If you don't, they gain strength and your own supporters lose heart.
When people call you racist and say you KILLED people you do not answer that in a wimpy way. You answer them until THEY are embarrassed.
That's a tough call. If you respond to every charge that's all you do.