Klan Marchers Allowed to Don Masks
For the first time since 1951, police on Saturday did not stop members of the Ku Klux Klan from donning face masks for a march.
Several dozen klan members and members of other white supremacist groups gathered amid heavy security.
The state’s 1951 anti-mask law, which prevents concealment of identity in public places, was ruled unconstitutional in May by a state court judge in Gwinnet County. Georgia Atty. Gen. Michael Bowers told law enforcement officers not to enforce the law while an appeal is pending.
Downtown Gainesville was deserted except for several hundred law enforcement officers. Shops were closed and doors carried orange ribbons signifying the town’s protest against the klan.
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