Page 19 - MIN JUS 29 FEB 2016

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U.S. NEWSMonday 29 February 2016

3 stabbed when violence erupts at KKK rally in California

CHRISTINE ARMARIO and then mayhem ensued. been stabbed, one criti- when “all hell broke loose,” onstrate in a public park.
Associated Press Witness video captured the cally. Five Klansmen were using his body to get be- “Even if the vast majority of
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Doz- brawl just after noon Sat- booked for investigation tween counter-protesters our community disagrees
ens of protesters who heard urday in an Anaheim park of assault with a deadly and Klansmen until officers with a particular group
about a planned Ku Klux about 3 miles from Disney- weapon, and seven of the were able to reach the who visits our city we can-
Klan rally were waiting by land. Several protesters approximately 30 counter- scene. not stop them from law-
a Southern California park could be seen kicking a protesters were arrested Levin said he saw no uni- fully gathering to express
formed officers when the their opinions,” Quezada
This photo provided by OC Weekly shows counter-protesters scuffling with a KKK member, on the melee started. Sgt. Daron said. “Violence is not ac-
ground, as he stabs an attacking protester, during an anti-immigration rally at Pearson Park in Wyatt says police were def- ceptable, and we will ar-
Anaheim on Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016. Three people were stabbed Saturday, one critically, after a initely there and were en- rest anybody who assaults
small group of Ku Klux Klan members staging an anti-immigrant rally clashed with a larger gather- gaged with people at one another person or commits
ing of counter-protesters, police said. end of the fight, and called any other crime in our city.”
for additional resources to Chris Barker, who identi-
(Eric Hood/OC Weekly via AP) deploy to the other end. fied himself as the imperial
He says the event stretched wizard of the Loyal White
when six Klansmen pulled KKK member. One Klans- on suspicion of assault with along an entire city block. Knights of the Ku Klux Klan,
up in a black SUV and took man with an American flag force likely to cause great Police Chief Raul Quezada told The Associated Press
out signs reading “White used the pole’s tip to stab bodily injury. said his officers were able by phone from North Caro-
Lives Matter.” The KKK a man. “I thought they were going to respond quickly enough lina that his members were
members were dressed in “I got stabbed,” the man to stomp these Klansmen to arrest all but one of the holding a peaceful anti-
black shirts decorated with screamed, lifting his T-shirt to death,” said Brian Levin, main participants, with the immigration demonstration
the Klan cross and Confed- to show a wound to his who directs California State exception of one counter- and acted in self-defense.
erate flag patches. stomach. A fire hydrant University, San Bernardino’s protester who was still at “If we’re attacked, we will
The protesters immediate- where the man briefly sat Center for the Study of Hate large Sunday. Four of the attack back,” said Barker,
ly moved in, surrounding was covered in blood. and Extremism. Levin, who arrestees were released whose organization lists Pel-
the Klansmen. Someone By the time ordered was was monitoring the protest, after a review of video evi- ham, N.C., as its headquar-
smashed the SUV’s window, restored, three people had said he tried to intervene dence, he said Sunday in a ters. Last year, the group
statement from the city. drew headlines when it
“We will always honor free protested the removal of
speech in Anaheim, but the Confederate flag from
we vehemently reject hate the South Carolina Capitol.
and violent confrontation,” The KKK has a long history in
Mayor Tom Tait said add- Anaheim. In the 1920s, sev-
ed. “Anaheim is proud to eral Klansmen held elected
draw strength in its diversity, office in the city, which was
tolerance and kindness, overwhelmingly white but
and Saturday’s events run now has a majority of His-
counter to that. panics among its roughly
A day earlier, Anaheim po- 350,000 residents.
lice had notified the public In January 2015, packets
about the planned protest containing fliers condemn-
at Pearson Park and said ing the Rev. Martin Luther
they would be monitoring King Jr. and supporting the
the situation. The depart- Ku Klux Klan were left in
ment also noted that the the driveways of about 40
KKK, like any other group, homes in Santa Ana, about
has a First Amendment 8 miles south of Anaheim.
right to assemble and dem- q