Last week, armed members of the Ku Klux Klan rallied in Hillsborough, where they were quickly outnumbered by local counter-protesters.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office announced its intention to arrest some of the demonstrators for carrying firearms in a political demonstration. However, as of Friday — six days after the demonstration — there had yet to be any arrests.
On Saturday, anti-racists in Hillsborough are organizing a “March for a Hate-Free Hillsborough” event.
From the group’s announcement:
As many of you know, the Ku Klux Klan held a rally in Hillsborough on Saturday, August 24th. Since, they have reported to Spectrum News that they plan to return this weekend. We believe that this is a direct response to our press conference and rally held on August 10th and an escalation in tactics by the flaggers who have been terrorizing downtown Hillsborough.
We, as a community, must stand together in bold opposition to this hate, violence, and intimidation and let the Klan and the people who come every weekend to the street corners of Downtown Hillsborough waving the same flag, that they are not welcome here.
We ask you to join us as we take the streets of downtown Hillsborough. We will meet at the Old Slave Cemetery and march to the courthouse.
We have reached out to organizations and anti-racist leaders in the community to link arms with us in this fight against white supremacy. As our list of speakers and co-sponsors grows, we will update you here. If you or your organization would like to join our efforts, please reach out to us at [email protected]
gmail.com. The following is a list of our co-sponsors:
Northern Orange NAACP
Raleigh-Apex NAACP
The Progressive Democrats of Orange County
Native American Democratic Auxillary Caucus
North Carolinians Against Gun Violence
NC Justice Center
Carolina Jews for Justice
Down Home NC: Alamance Chapter
Orange County Democratic Party
Triangle SURJ
Justice for DeAndre Ballard
Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom, Triangle BranchThe following is a list of speakers:
LaTarndra Strong, Hate-Free Schools Coalition
Heather Redding, Hillsborough Progressives Taking Action
Patricia Clayton, Northern Orange NAACP
Gerald Givens, Jr., Raleigh-Apex NAACP
Crystal Cavalier, Native American Democratic Auxillary Caucus
David Serginey, Native American Democratic Auxillary Caucus
Jason Campos Keck, Native American Democratic Auxillary Caucus
Wes McMahon, North Carolinians Against Gun Violence
Miguel Staten, Justice for DeAndre Ballard
More event info here.
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