Stone Mountain prepares for Confederate rally

[struggle4progress]

5:16 p.m. Friday, July 31, 2015

... John Bankhead, spokesman for the Stone Mountain Memorial Association, said the park’s police department was made aware of the rally by organizers for planning purposes. But he said the park does not endorse the rally.

“The park had nothing to do with this,” he said. “The park is open to the public. Anybody that can pay the $15 fee can come into the park and they have a right to exercises their First Amendment rights.”

Bankhead said the park police are prepared for the rally to bring as many as 1,000 protesters to the park. Anger among the group has been fed by calls from groups like the Atlanta NAACP to alter or destroy the gigantic carving of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, but NAACP chapter President Richard Rose said his group is staying away from the park this weekend.

“To be honest with you, we come from a place of positive nonviolence. We expect that any kind of protest would be met with violence from anyone who flies the flag of hate,” he said ...

http://www.ajc.com/news/news/stone-mountain-prepares-for-confederate-rally/nm97X/

[Hoyt]

1. Jeeez. Good day to avoid a bunch of ignorant racist yahoos.

[struggle4progress]

3. Yep

[struggle4progress]

2. Stone Mountain ready for Confederate flag rally Saturday

Keith Whitney and Michael King
WXIA-TV, Atlanta
11:49 p.m. EDT July 31, 2015

STONE MOUNTAIN, GA (WXIA) – Stone Mountain Park Police said they are expecting hundreds of people to show up on Saturday for a rally in defense of the Confederate flag ...

"This rally is not sanction by, supported by, endorsed by anyone with the park," said John Bankhead with the Stone Mountain Park Police Department. "It's independent of the park" ...

Another park visitor was a bit more adamant in her opposition. "It's like the swastika. But it's part of American heritage. As far as it going against the black people, it's not good – it should come down," she said ...

http://www.11alive.com/story/news/local/stone-mountain/2015/07/31/stone-mountain-ready-for-confederate-flag-rally-saturday/30977515/

[struggle4progress]

4. Stone Mountain rally about ‘heritage’, not hate, participants say

Chris Joyner and Tammy Joyner
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
12:59 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 1, 2015

... Early Saturday morning, a procession of pickup trucks, cars and motorcycles adorned with the Confederate and U.S. flags stretched at least five miles along I-285 as onlookers in other vehicles — many of them black — looked on bewildered or disgusted ...

“I feel a little anxiety,” admitted Ivy Rain, an African-American woman from Stone Mountain, who was part of the counter protest. “It’s 2015 but it feels like 1955 and it ain’t right” ...

“This is a concentration of a lot of ugliness,” he said. “This is a real provocation” ...

“We need to step up the support,” Batterson said. “These are just as many people who think it shouldn’t be flown” ...

http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/stone-mountain-rally-about-heritage-not-hate-parti/nnBQS/

[struggle4progress]

5. Caravans of Confederate flag supporters arrive for rally at Stone Mountain

Daniel Funke
August 1, 2015

Around 100 people had already arrived at Stone Mountain Park for a rally celebrating the Confederate flag by around 9:45 a.m. Saturday, and traffic on nearby I-285 and U.S. 78 was backed up for miles.

Caravans from all over Georgia bore unwavering rebel flags as they streamed into the park’s Yellow Daisy parking lot for the day-long event ...

There was significant law enforcement presence at the park as caravans began arriving early Saturday. Stone Mountain Park spokesman John Bankman said security will be heightened at the event.

“We’re treating it like the Fourth of July,” he said ...

http://news.blog.ajc.com/2015/08/01/caravans-of-confederate-flag-supporters-arrive-for-rally-at-stone-mountain/

[struggle4progress]

6. Confederate flag supporters claim harassment

Chris Joyner
August 1, 2015

.... Ann Harper of Griffin claimed she and her companion were followed for several blocks by a man upset with their display of the Confederate flag. Harper said the man jumped out at a red light and complained to them about their “slave flag.”

“I said I’m sorry you feel that way, but it’s a Southern thing for me,” she said.

Harper was one of just a half dozen protesters to arrive at the park before 9 a.m. Organizers and park officials are anticipating hundreds. While organizers have pledged to hold a peaceful protest, online comments on several Facebook pages promoting the event indicate the group is anticipating “trouble” ...

http://news.blog.ajc.com/2015/08/01/confederate-flag-supporters-claim-harrassment/

[struggle4progress]

7. ‘The heritage of slavery': Protesters speak out against Confederate flag

Daniel Funke

... Candice D., who declined to give her last name, and friend Tyler Jackson were among them. Both women got into verbal altercations following one group’s hour-long dispute with rally-goers, in which shouting matches and threats were frequently exchanged ...

“We’ve been out here for about three hours and they came out here saying the same thing we did, just a little bit louder,” she said. “And the mood changed with everything. People I was shaking hands with, got offered food and water from, is now looking at me with hate in their eyes. It’s weird how you flip the switch like that” ...

At the other end of the parking lot was Charlie Anderson, a member of the Stop Mass Incarceration Network. Although many rally organizers said the Confederate flag is an emblem of their southern heritage, he said it is a symbol of racism and oppression dating back to the Civil War ...

http://news.blog.ajc.com/2015/08/01/its-the-heritage-of-slavery-protestors-speak-out-against-confederate-flag-at-stone-mountain-rally/

[struggle4progress]

8. Armed militia members stand by as Confederate flag supporters descend upon Georgia park

TOM BOGGIONI
01 AUG 2015 AT 14:57 ET

... Police at Stone Mountain Park in Georgia greeted hundreds of Confederate flag supporters — as well as armed militia members — at the popular park on Saturday, with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporting that traffic was backed up for miles this morning ... No mention was made of weapons in the open carry state ...

https://www.rawstory.com/2015/08/armed-militia-members-stand-by-as-confederate-flag-supporters-descend-upon-georgia-park/