Haley urges SC to stay away from KKK rally at the State House

Gov. Nikki Haley is urging the public to stay away from a Saturday State House rally by a North Carolina-based Ku Klux Klan group.

"The strength and grace the people of South Carolina have shown over the last three weeks have inspired our family, our neighbors and the entire world,” Haley said in a statement Thursday.

“Our family hopes the people of South Carolina will join us in staying away from the disruptive, hateful spectacle members of the Ku Klux Klan hope to create over the weekend and instead focus on what brings us together.”

The Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan has a permit to rally on the north lawn of the State House on Saturday from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. The group plans to demonstrate in support of the Confederate flag. The flag was removed from the grounds last week and after nine African Americans were shot and killed in a racially motivated church shooting in Charleston.

“We want to make the State House a lonely place for them,” Haley said of the Klan group. “In doing so, we’ll honor those we have lost and continue to make our state stronger."

Black Educators for Justice, a Florida-based group run by a former director of the New Black Panther Party, has said it plans a rally at the State House Saturday from noon to 4 p.m. that will overlap with the KKK demonstration for an hour. The leader of that group said last week that demonstrators will not interfere with the Klan rally.

Trenholm Road United Methodist Church of Columbia on Thursday announced plans to reschedule its Saturday prayer vigil for Sunday from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. in response to Haley’s request.

This story was originally published July 16, 2015 at 3:27 PM with the headline "Haley urges SC to stay away from KKK rally at the State House."