Declining Klan marches again on State House

Twenty-seven years after the Ku Klux Klan last marched on the S.C. State House, members of a Pelham, N.C., -based branch of the racist group will rally Saturday on the Capitol’s grounds to protest the removal of the Confederate flag.

A heavy security presence is expected.

The Detroit-based Nationalist Socialist Movement, an anti-Semitic, white-separatist group, also is encouraging members to attend.

In a separate demonstration starting earlier in the day, the Black Educators for Justice and allied groups will rally to call attention to ongoing racial inequalities that they say were not ended by the flag’s removal. James Evans Muhammad, leader of the Florida-based group, said members of the New Black Panther Party, the Nation of Islam and Black Lawyers for Justice plan to attend but will not interfere with the Klan demonstrators.

The demonstrations will overlap by an hour. However, they will take place on opposite sides of the State House – the Black Educators group rallying on the north side and the Klan on the south side, said Lindsey Kremlick, a spokesperson for the S.C. Department of Administration.

State law enforcement officials would not provide specific details about their security plans, but added they have a plan is in place.

State House patrols have increased significantly since mid-June, when nine African-Americans died in a racially motivated church shooting in Charleston. Those deaths drove the debate that led to the Confederate flag being removed from the State House grounds last Friday.

When the groups – some classified as hate groups by a nonprofit that tracks extremists – show up Saturday, state leaders hope they are alone.

In a Friday statement and on social media, Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin urged the public and news media to steer clear of the rallies, saying the gatherings are “staged drama and propaganda that serve no public good.”

On Thursday, Gov. Nikki Haley urged the public to stay away, saying ignoring out-of-town-based demonstrators is the best way to honor the nine victims.

Staying away from the Klan rally will send a message to the hate group, said former State Law Enforcement Division chief Robert Stewart, who was in charge of security when the Klan last marched on the State House in 1988.

State House security increased

Security at the State House is expected to be significant Saturday, continuing a trend of heightened police presence at there.

That presence increased when protests for and against the Confederate flag began more than three weeks ago, in response to the June 17 shooting at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston. Dylann Roof, 21, of the Columbia area, faces murder charges in the deaths of nine African-American members of the church, including its pastor, state Sen. Clementa Pinckney, D-Jasper.

In response to the protests, the city of Columbia temporarily banned the carrying of concealed weapons within 250 feet of the State House grounds.

State law enforcement officials would not say how many additional officers have been helping with State House security or the cost of that added security. But S.C. Department of Public Safety spokesperson Sherri Iacobelli said patrols have increased “substantially.”

The state Bureau of Protective Services usually patrols the State House grounds. But in the face of the increased demonstrations, state transport police and the S.C. Highway Patrol officers also have been helping with security at the Capitol. Security cameras also track activity on the grounds.

Other state and local law enforcement agencies also have pitched in to help with security, including the S.C. Department of Natural Resources, SLED, Probation, Parole and Pardon Services, the city of Columbia, Richland County Sheriff’s Department and University of South Carolina police.

More than 4,000 people came to the State House to view Pinckney’s body lying in state. Authorities estimated 10,000 people gathered at the State House to call for the removal of the Confederate flag.

“The protests and rallies on the grounds have primarily been peaceful and without incident, and we are confident that this will continue,” Iacobelli said, adding law enforcement has planned for the demonstrations. “The security measures we have taken have been out of an abundance of caution and to ensure that the public feels safe and comfortable to visit and assemble on state grounds.”

Added former SLED chief Stewart, given “the groups that are coming, I'm sure law enforcement has done their homework and planned accordingly.”

‘Ensure the demise of that flag’

It’s unclear how much the Klan and counter-demonstrators will interact.

When the Klan marched in 1988 and protesters showed up in opposition, law enforcement kept the two groups separate, letting them demonstrate safely, Stewart said.

The 1988 Klan march drew about 125 members of the “Christian Knights” – men, women and some children – who marched for about a block and a half down Main Street to the State House grounds. The Klan showing fell short of the 200 to 400 supporters predicted by the late Horace King of Lexington County, then the group’s “grand dragon.”

The Klan had planned to use the 1988 march as a membership drive, Stewart said. Members came with pamphlets and membership forms to hand out.

But law enforcement officers told the Klan members to walk in the center of the street and prevented any interaction with other demonstrators and observers.

Mark Potok, a senior fellow with the Southern Poverty Law Center, said the Klan uses events like the Charleston shootings and the flag debate to recruit members. “The irony is that by demonstrating in defense of the Confederate battle flag, the Loyal White Knights will help ensure the demise of that flag” by linking it to the hate group in the public’s eye.

This story was originally published July 17, 2015 at 5:05 PM with the headline "Declining Klan marches again on State House."