Former Rare Staff
The Stone Mountain Memorial Association shared a copy of the now-denied request by the Sacred Knights of the Ku Klux Klan to obtain a permit for a cross-burning at the site.
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The application states that the group sought to “commemorate the cross lighting of William Simmons in Nov. 1915.” Simmons revived the KKK after he took 15 men to the top of Stone Mountain and lit a cross on fire.
The SMMA rejected the request under the basis of public safety, referencing a previous Klan event that resulted in an armed confrontation between members of the KKK and counter-protesters. In a separate statement, the association denounced “the beliefs and actions of the Ku Klux Klan,” including a page from Georgia state code defining “terroristic threats and acts,” which includes the burning of property. This is the paragraph they highlighted in a document sent to Rare:
(2) A person convicted of the offense of a terroristic act shall be punished by a fine of not more than $5,000.00, imprisonment for not less than one nor more than ten years, or both; provided, however, that if any person suffers a serious physical injury as a direct result of an act giving rise to a conviction under subsection (b) of this Code section, the person so convicted shall be punished by a fine of not more than $250,000.00, imprisonment for not less than five nor more than 40 years, or both.
The rejection letter comes nearly a year and a half after a white nationalist rally occurred at Stone Mountain Park. Following the rally, SMMA spokesperson John Bankhead said, “We will be looking at all additional options available to balance the safety of the public versus the right to freedom of speech.”
RELATED:Â A Catholic priest admits that he was previously a member of the Ku Klux Klan
