City officials and community leaders announced yesterday plans for a counter-demonstration to the Ku Klux Klan's scheduled May 9 rally in Ann Arbor.
Although a site has not yet been chosen, organizers said their rally will run concurrently with the Klan's demonstration.
Ann Arbor Mayor Ingrid Sheldon, Ann Arbor Police Chief Carl Ent, Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice director Tobi Hanna-Davies and National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Ypsilanti branch President Ray Mullins announced the counter-demonstration at a news conference.
A similar counter-demonstration at a 1996 Ann Arbor Klan rally turned violent after demonstrators began throwing rocks and other objects at police. Police dressed in riot gear tear-gassed hundreds of people at that rally.
That demonstration also drew national attention after Keshia Thomas, an 18-year-old student, kept protesters from beating a man they thought was a Klan sympathizer because his jacket bore a Confederate-flag emblem.
This time, city officials expressed hope for a peaceful demonstration.
"Two years ago, we were not prepared as a community for the Klan," said mayor pro tem Christopher Kolb. "We have learned our lesson."
04-17-98
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