Durham Braces For Possible Klan Rally Friday

Update: Durham city officials have said no permit has been granted to any group by police for a rally.

CHARLOTTE, NC -- In the wake of Charlottesville violence this week, law enforcement in Durham, N.C. is bracing for a possible Ku Klux Klan rally Friday. The news of the possible white supremacist rally comes just days after protesters toppled a statue of a Civil War soldier outside the Durham County Courthouse and a statue of Robert E. Lee was found vandalized outside a chapel on the campus of Duke University.

“The Sheriff’s Office is thorough researching the potential of several groups with opposing viewpoints holding demonstrations in Durham,” spokesperson Tamara Gibbs said Friday morning. “This is partly why the Sheriff’s Office continues to remind demonstrators to first obtain a permit and most importantly, abide by the law. I expect demonstrators to conduct themselves in such a manner that is legal and respectful of the Durham County community.

While news spread of the possibility white supremacists would be marching in Durham, some businesses decided to close early over “growing anxieties,” The Herald Sun reported.

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Community fears of white supremacist and Klan rallies are spreading nationwide, prompting the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups in the U.S., to say that in the wake of the violence in Charlottesville, states should amend their open-carry laws.

“Nothing in the Second Amendment gives anyone the right to carry a gun whenever and wherever one may choose,” said SPLC President Richard Cohen in a commentary. “Lower courts have ruled that ‘sensitive places’ include national parks, university football games, post offices, vehicles and aircrafts. If a university football game or a national park can be considered to be sensitive places where guns have no place, surely public assemblies, particularly those that might trigger strong emotions, are as well.”

By Thursday, the Durham County Sheriff arrested eight people for their participation in destruction of the statue and said more arrests might be possible. Local protesters wanted that number to be higher, as hundreds of supporters formed a line outside the sheriff’s office to turn themselves in for the crime in a show of solidarity.

This is a developing story and will be updated when more information becomes available.

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