| brassmonkey |
04-23-2016 04:34 PM |
'Pro-white,' anti-KKK groups face off at Georgia landmark
refreshments (pabst blue ribbon and peanuts) were served after at inbred pines trailer park.
Atlanta At least nine people were arrested Saturday at a "pro-white" rally in a suburban Atlanta park known for a landmark that pays tribute to Confederate leaders.
Eight of those arrested were counter-demonstrators, Stone Mountain Park Department of Public Safety spokesman John Bankhead said. Representing different groups, they appeared to outnumber demonstrators wearing "White Lives Matter" shirts and waving Confederate flags by nearly 10 to 1. The ninth arrested person was from the pro-white group; he apparently threw a smoke bomb at troopers, Bankhead said.
Police in riot gear appeared to outnumber everyone, maintaining a sprawling presence around separate areas containing the different groups. Tensions appeared to level off after the arrests, with the opposing groups keeping to designated areas of a parking lot at the base of Stone Mountain. By around 2 p.m., people from both sides began to leave the park, the latest site of the divisive battle over Confederate landmarks in the South.
Once a hotbed of Ku Klux Klan activity, Stone Mountain Park is home to a large carving in the granite mountain depicting Confederate leaders President Jefferson Davis and Gens. Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson.
A Confederate flag flies atop the mountain, with the mountain and its surrounding park now known as a recreational spot for families and tourists. The flag and the carving have drawn condemnation from those who say it glorifies a horrific period in American history, prompting efforts to remove the flag in the wake of similar efforts across the Southeast.
Rock Stone Mountain -- the name given to Saturday's rally by organizers -- was held two days before the observance of Confederate Memorial Day in Georgia, a paid day off for some state employees. John Estes, an event organizer with the group Rock Stone Mountain, said Saturday's rally was intended to focus on what he called attempts to erase Confederate history and the white race altogether. The large police presence and the park's decision not to let them climb the mountain "cut down our numbers quite a bit," he told CNN affiliate WSB-TV.
The counter-demonstrators were arrested as they tried to confront pro-white demonstrators. Police in riot gear cut them off and some began to throw rocks and fireworks at police, Bankhead said. They were arrested for wearing face-coverings resembling bandanas in violation of a law against wearing masks or hoods in public places, Bankhead said.
Stone Mountain: 'Pro-white,' anti-KKK groups gather |
