Athens police issued a parade permit late Wednesday to the Ku Klux Klan, which is planning to hold an immigration protest at Athens City Hall on Sept. 15.
“We issued a permit for them to parade at Athens City Hall at 3 p.m. on Sept. 15,” said Capt. Tracy Harrison. “This will not conflict with the Trail of Tears motorcycle ride that will come through town earlier in the day.”
The permit was issued to the Church of the National Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, which is based in South Bend, Ind. The permit was issued in the name of J.L. Thomas.
The Klan had sought to rally at the Limestone County Courthouse, but Athens Mayor Dan Williams and Limestone County Commission Chairman David Seibert denied the permit.
Williams denied the Klan’s request to rally on the courthouse lawn and said he asked Police Chief Wayne Harper to tell Thomas, of Rogersville, who made the first application, that the group needed to obtain permission from the county, which owns the courthouse property. Seibert denied that request, saying, “We give permits for things that foster good will. I’m not sure a rally by the KKK against immigration is for good will.”
Williams said he knows the organization has a right to free speech but the time of the rally — Sept. 15 during the annual Trail of Tears Motorcycle Ride — raises public-safety issues.
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