Cincinnati Rally by Klan Draws 1,500 Hecklers

About 1,500 people jeered and threw objects at six robed Ku Klux Klan members who staged a rally downtown Saturday, resulting in one injury and seven arrests.

Hecklers at Fountain Square shouted obscenities, waved “Smash the Klan” signs and hurled bottles that shattered on the square’s stage as helmeted police formed a barrier to hold back the crowd.

“It’s a damn shame the city’s protecting them,” one protester said.

One fire captain was slightly injured by an object hurled from the crowd, Police Chief Lawrence Whalen said. No other injuries were reported.

The klan obtained permission for the rally from the city last week after U.S. District Judge Carl Rubin allowed a Jewish congregation to put a menorah on the square for the eight days of Hanukkah.

Wearing white, purple and black robes, but ordered by the city not to wear hoods, the klansmen began their rally by erecting a 10-foot cross in the square. One klan member held up a Bible and yelled “Life, life through Jesus.” But when he grabbed a bullhorn to make a speech, jeers and taunts drowned out his words.

One heckler in the crowd screamed: “Your mama should see you. She ain’t never bought you no clothes like that.”

The jeering intensified when one klan member held up a sign reading: “Fight Racism--Abolish Affirmative Action.”

“It was getting ugly real quick,” said Edward Ammann, the assistant police chief.

Police escorted the klansmen to a nearby building and used chemical Mace to repel some protesters who had charged toward the klansmen.

Those who were arrested were charged with disorderly conduct. Other protesters, angry over the arrests, went to the Hamilton County Justice Center and chanted while the seven were booked.

Ammann said police recovered 40 to 50 objects the protesters threw during the rally, including rocks, ball bearings, pieces of machinery and a two-pound can of sliced pineapples.