Public safety officials are preparing for a Ku Klux Klan rally scheduled for Aug. 25 at the State Capitol.
The KKK plans to recruit new members.
"I don't think there are many police officers who imagined during their career they'd be protecting the rights of the Ku Klux Klan," Maj. Kevin Kittridge of the Minnesota State Patrol said. "
Kittridge is in charge of Capitol security. He said that, regardless of what he or his officers think, they must do their jobs.
"Certainly, it's a hard pill to swallow," Teresa Nelson of the Minnesota Civil Liberties Union said. "That is the price we pay for having our liberties. If we have the right to free speech, then so does everybody -- even if we disagree with them."
Capitol security officers said that they are trying to avoid conflict. That is why they are offering Klan opposition groups the same space at the Capitol -- just at different times on the same day.
A member of an anti-KKK group said that the Klan should be ready for opposition and counter-protests. Can The Klan members said that they will sue the state if they are not allowed to counter-protest the KKK rally.
The group is seeking a permit to rally at the same time.
"There's always going to be racism here in Minnesota along with everywhere else," Can The Klan member Mike Huber said. "It will never totally end, but all of us can do something about it."
Kittridge said that the best form of counter-protest is the ignore the Klan.
"Be a Minnesotan," Kittridge said. "Go to the lake, go up north or go the state fair. Let the Klan talk to themselves, not to Minnesotans."
Huber said that ignoring the Klan allows the KKK to develop a foothold.
Can the Klan member Michelle Gross said that her organization's message will be that Minnesota is not fertile ground for white supremacist organizing efforts. The state has granted a permit to the Klan for its rally, but not to Can the Klan.
Gross calls that "inconceivable."
The Minnesota Black Republican Caucus also plans to counter-demonstrate, two hours after the KKK's march.
===== Kevin Dean Buffalo, NY ICQ: 8616001 http://www.yaysoft.com
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