Hundreds of anti-Racists protestors, including Black Lives Matter and antifa activists, confronted a far smaller clutch of white racists today at Stone Mountain, GA, in the shadow of the Mountain where the Ku Klux Klan was officially reborn in 1915.
While the racists were wildly outnumbered, in an ominous development, members of both groups were armed with rifles.
Thankfully nobody got shot but it didn’t take long for things to get heated.
Today’s confrontation grew out of a request by a far right paramilitary group known as the Three Percenters for a permit to stage a rally in Stone Mountain Park, home to the nation’s largest Confederate Memorial. In response, Park authorities not only denied the request but shut down the park for the day, since a previous rally had resulted violence.
Nevertheless, the Three Percenters and their white racist allies weren’t deterred. Faced with a closed park entrance patrolled by members of law enforcement and the National Guard, they began to gather in the streets of Stone Mountain village, where they soon came into contact with anti-racist counter protestors.
With law enforcement absent from the streets, arguments, shoving matches and fist fights began break out. A number of Confederate battle flags were seized and burned, at least one firework was set off, pepper spray was used and at least one of the white racists pointed his rifle at anti-racists, according to a live feed by reporters for the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
At this point law enforcement moved in with riot shields and with the support of cammo clad National Guardsmen to disperse both groups. Amazingly there were no reports hospitalizations or serious injuries.
The clash has made international news, being covered by the UK’s The Guardian, The Sun and The Daily Mail.
Local News and National Broadcasters covered it as well.
Thirty some odd years ago, when I was infiltrating national Klan gatherings only a few miles from where this photo was taken, had someone told me I would live to see white racists run off the streets of Stone Mountain, GA by the above crowd I would have thought them wildly optimistic.
