Georgia 'Pro-White' Rally Erupts In Violence In Stone Mountain

STONE MOUNTAIN, GA -- One of the Southeast's most popular tourist attractions was shut down on Saturday as hundreds of protesters gathered at Stone Mountain Park for several competing rallies.

Several people were arrested during the rallies, the first of which was billed as the first "openly pro-white" demonstration since the Charleston, S.C., church shootings.

Opponents of the white rally showed up, and demonstrators clashed with each other. The AJC is reporting that a barricade was set on fire and rocks were thrown at police.

The park itself closed on Saturday. Park management issued the following statement:

"Stone Mountain Park is located on state-owned land. The state agency with authority over Stone Mountain Park has issued permits to three groups to assemble for free speech activity on April 23. The state agency established the permit locations at the Yellow Daisy Parking Lot, Confederate Hall Plaza and Lower Lawn. The permit times are from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. The groups are exercising their First Amendment rights under the U.S. Constitution. The opinions and views of the groups permitted to assemble are neither endorsed nor condoned by Stone Mountain Park. The attractions are closed for the remainder of the day. The Lasershow is canceled this evening. The park will resume normal operations on Sunday, April 24th."

Rock Stone Mountain, a "pro White march up Stone Mountain" according to its Facebook page, was scheduled to start at 11 a.m.

The group's application for the rally estimated anywhere from 200 to 2,000 people will attend.

In various posts, the group has argued that Confederate iconography, like the carvings of Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson and Jefferson Davis on Stone Mountain, are at risk of being wiped out.

For its part, Stone Mountain Park, in an ethnically diverse suburb of Atlanta, would prefer to have nothing to do with the group.

"We were hoping for rain, to be honest," said John Bankhead, spokesman for the Stone Mountain Memorial Association. "But it's a First Amendment issue. The courts have already decided that people have the right to gather and rally and exercise their First Amendment rights."

Heavy police presence was on hand at the park Saturday, Bankhead said. Units from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Georgia State Patrol, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Georgia Department of Corrections and DeKalb County Sheriff's deputies were among those augmenting a presence by park police.

The park also assigned specific locations at which the Rock Stone Mountain group and various groups planning to counter-protest may assemble, he said.

(Photo via "Rock Stone Mountain" Facebook page)