Ku Klux Klan plans hate rally in Ann Arbor

The Ku Klux Klan officially made a request to the City of Ann Arbor on Thursday for a permit to hold a rally at City Hall. The rally would be held May 9.

"I have a feeling they're not going to give us our permit," said Robert Wiggins, the Klan's attorney.

The group of Klan members, led by Imperial Wizard Jeff Berry, is the same group from Butler, Ind. that held a rally at City Hall in July, 1996 that set off violent protests by anti-Klan protesters.

Some local groups and citizens have pledged to oppose the rally.

"We will certainly do what we can to prevent them from rallying in the first place," said Shanta Driver, a member of the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action By Any Means Necessary.

"If they do come in May, they absolutely will be driven out of town again," Driver said. City Adminstrator Neil Berlin said it is possible the Klan does not need a permit to hold a rally if less than 50 people attend. Berlin said the Klan has indicated that less than 50 ralliers plan to be there.

The Klan also requested that the city provide transportation for their demonstrators and electricity for their sound equipment, Berlin said.

Berlin said the city will not consider public opposition to the Klan in their final decision on the permit.

"The decision the city makes will be determined by the laws ... and Supreme Court decisions in relevant cases," Berlin said.

City officials said the Klan would probably be notified in about two weeks as to whether the group will be granted a permit.

"Typically, we give ourselves 15 days to respond," said Jeffery Ellis, director of the city's Central Permit Office, but he added that the city is not required to respond in a specified amount of time.

Some rallies require more consideration due to security issues, Ellis said.

Ellis said the city would definitely respond by the day before the event is scheduled.

Driver said the holding of politically conservative events in Ann Arbor, such as the speech by Ward Connerly, has given Klan members the impression that they are becoming more widely accepted in Ann Arbor.

"I think they feel there is a racist hard core in Ann Arbor that could be mobilized," Driver said.

Driver said she hopes the city will deny police protection for the Klan. Driver said that the police department "rolled out the red carpet" for the Klan's 1996 rally by providing them with extensive police protection.

"The Klan won't come without that," Driver said. Driver was member of the legal defense team for the Ann Arbor Eight - the eight people who were arrested while protesting the 1996 rally.

In 1996, the Klan was given a demonstration permit and police protection. During their demonstration, someone protesting the Klan's appearance threw a rock, hitting Berry's wife, Edna, in the right eye.

03-30-98