KKK at Black Lives Matter Rally: 'We're Here. Catch Us If You Can'

WESTHAMPTON BEACH, NY — Although a self-proclaimed KKK leader said the hate group would attend a Black Lives Matter rally in Westhampton Beach Sunday, there was not a white robe or hood in sight.

However, a man who said his name is Gary Monker, and calls himself the Exalted Cyclops or chief officer of the New York Klu Klux Klan, when contacted and asked if he was in attendance, responded: "We're here. Catch us if y'all can. We're incognito."

Bob Zellner, known East End civil rights activist, said he had noticed people who he believed could be KKK members not in traditional garb, in the crowd.

Several hundred people turned out Sunday carrying posters with messages of peace and unity, and decrying the KKK.

Vanessa Vascez-Corleone, who organized the event before the KKK leader called Patch, said of the group's failure to make its presence known Sunday: "They knew better. They proved my point — they're cowards."

Added Willie Jenkins of the Black Lives Matter group, "Hate did not win today."

Police presence was noticeable at the rally, which was amicable and peaceful, with people chanting, "Black lives matter, All lives matter, Blue lives matter. KKK — not OK."

Lucius Ware, president of the Long Island chapter of the NAACP, said the rallies are critical because black lives have not always mattered in the United States.

"Black lives have not mattered, forever, and up to the present day, in instances of violence and especially, in many cases of police brutality," Ware said.

Clergy members the Rev. Andrew Teagle Jr. of St. Paul's African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in Quogue and Deidre Kimensky also attended. "This is not just a matter of civil rights," Teagle said. "It's a matter of human rights."

Crowds joined the peaceful rally. "If we're going to survive as a country, we have to do it together," said Allison Macnamara of Hampton Bays.

Kathi Dito of Rockville Centre added, "All lives matter." She said that white supremacy groups still exist is shocking.

Of the possible KKK members who could show up at the rally, Macnamara said, "They should just stay home. I don't want to see a bunch of grown men in bed sheets."

Attorney Abigail Field traveled from Cutchogue for the rally. "I support the Black Lives Matter movement in general," she said. But she was compelled, she said, to attend Sunday's event to stand strong against the KKK. "The Klan is one of America's original terrorist organizations. It's important to stand up to their hate."

She added,"It's a very important message to send: There are very few people that stand with the KKK."

Co-organizer Jenkins said he was excited by the large turnout. "The KKK doesn't frighten us," he said. "They don't deter us. Right is right, and wrong is wrong."

Girls played guitars and sang peaceful songs by John Lennon and others.

Abena Asare of Stony Brook brought her children to the event. She said she's been involved with the Black Lives Matter movement throughout the summer and said the mission of BLM is to raise awareness and transform communities for the better, helping to spur job creation, the economy, schools and opportunity for all.

"This is not just about race. It's about justice," she said. The rallies, she said, "spur important discussions" in the public arena.

Some at the event speculated that a group of men, some wearing khaki and one, a hat with "second amendment" written on it, were KKK members.

Earlier this week, Monker told Patch: ""We're the only organization right now standing up for whites, upholding the second amendment of the Constitution. We are not a hate group. We are Christian, and we're trying to restore America back to what it used to be."

When asked why there were present, the group standing on the outskirts said they were there to support a friend who was reporting on the event and to provide security should any issues erupt.

At one point, police stood in a line facing the group and then, when the men moved toward the village, police were seen checking the spot where they'd stood.

Monker told Patch earlier in the week that members planned to attend the already scheduled Black Lives Matter rally; according to the group leader, members had attempted to attend the Westhampton Beach rallies scheduled in previous weeks but the events had been canceled twice.

Earlier this week Monker told Patch repeatedly that Gary Monker was his name and that he lived in Center Moriches.

Another media outlet and press release from the Westhampton Village Police Department, however, stated his name was Douglas Munker, of Hampton Bays.

When questioned again Wednesday, he insisted again that his name was spelled "Gary Munker," a different spelling than first given to Patch and other media outlets. He added, "Douglas is my cousin. He is the Grand Dragon of NY." The grand dragon is allegedly another key position in the KKK organization.

Vascez-Corleone organized her Westhampton Beach rally first, in response to flyers left in driveways at Westhampton Beach homes, she said.

She has consistently said her rally would be held in response to those flyers.

When asked where, exactly, his group would be standing so that a reporter could meet him in person for an interview, Monker said that "secret" information could not be disclosed.

On Wednesday, Westhampton Beach Village Police Chief Trevor Gonce sent out a release about Sunday's rally: "The Westhampton Beach Police have been in contact with the leadership of both organizations regarding the reports in the media of rallies in the Village of Westhampton Beach. Donna Stovall, the co-organizer of Black Lives Matter confirmed they will hold a rally in front of Village Hall on Sunday at noon for a peaceful gathering, as they have done within other villages, hamlets and towns of the East End."

Gonce said "Douglas Munker, the individual mentioned in the Patch article" — the man who identified himself as Gary Monker to Patch — "stated he was undecided if he will stage a rally. He will notify the police department with definitive plans prior to Sunday. The police department is continuing to work with both groups to assure that the rallies are peaceful and organized."

Vascez-Corleone is the organizer of the East End Black Lives Matter rallies, and after her first event in Riverhead, she vowed to plan similar events across the East End and Long Island to raise awareness and create a mess of peace and unity.

Photos by Lisa Finn.