Klan Members Hold Protest of Arrest
About 10 Ku Klux Klan members staged a brief peaceful demonstration Saturday in Lancaster to protest the arrest of an alleged Klan member for disturbing the peace, officials said.
The 30-minute protest began at 10:30 a.m. in front of the Antelope Valley Sheriff’s Department, where deputies booked Larry Mettert, 46, last month after he was arrested by a county animal control officer, Sgt. Bob Riley said.
Deputies reported no arrests or problems during the protest, Riley said.
The Klan members gathered on the sidewalk next to the station, and were draped in Confederate flags, not in the Klan’s traditional white robes and hoods, Riley said.
The Klan members, some from as far away as Fresno and Ontario, told deputies they were protesting Mettert’s arrest, Riley said.
The animal control officer said she made a citizen’s arrest of Mettert on June 12 when he refused to stop shouting at her. The animal control officer was collecting dog license fees.
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