SIMI VALLEY : Police Chief Revokes Klan Rally Permit

Citing a refusal by state and federal officials to lend a hand, Simi Valley Police Chief Lindsey P. Miller revoked a permit Tuesday for a Ku Klux Klan rally planned for Saturday at the East County Courthouse.

Miller said he canceled the conditional rally permit he issued last month to avowed KKK member John Varela because one of the permit’s requirements was that police would get state or federal assistance.

In the past few weeks, state and federal officials have told the city that they cannot help.

“Based on similar incidents in the past, we know we don’t have a sufficient number of officers here to guarantee Mr. Varela’s safety,” Miller said. He was alluding to demonstrations last year by white supremacists that resulted in rock-throwing and several arrests.

Miller said he met with Varela at the police station Tuesday afternoon and informed him of the decision. He would not say whether Varela disclosed his next move.

Varela, who could not be reached for comment, could still hold the noontime rally, Miller said. The courthouse grounds are public property and police cannot interfere with his right to free speech, Miller said. Groups that obtain a permit, however, are entitled to police protection.

If the rally is held without a permit, Miller said, police could stop it only if they determined that Varela’s safety was threatened or that public disorder was imminent.

City officials have argued that they do not have enough officers to guarantee Varela’s safety or his 1st Amendment right to free speech. Police fear hundreds of angry counterdemonstrators would attend the rally, which Miller has said would probably feature only a few Klan members.

Miller said that 200 to 250 officers would be needed to keep the peace. Simi Valley has about 110 officers.