Nine attendees of Ohio Ku Klux Klan rally met by 500 counter protesters
The small white nationalist group reportedly spoke little, but when they did, counter-protesters drowned them out
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Your support makes all the difference.A white supremacist rally was organised in Dayton, Ohio - but the handful of attendees were drowned out by hundreds of counter-protesters.
The event, organised by the Ku Klux Klan affiliated group Honorable Sacred Knights of Indiana, only attracted nine people to support their cause.
Of the nine, only one was unmasked. The group waved confederate, Ku Klux Klan, and American flags, and raised a sign with a phone number on it.
The white nationalist group spoke little, according to local news station WHIO-TV, and when they did, counter-protesters, including the local NAACP chapter and church groups, sang hymns and played instruments while chanting anti-racist slogans, drowning them out.
Other groups opposing the white supremacist rally included Antifa members, New Black Panthers, and college students.
One counter-protester, Micah Naziri, 42, carried a rifle and wore a red hat that says “Make racists afraid again”, a riff on Donald Trump’s red Make America Great Again hats.
Mr Nazari was concerned that armed members of the Honorable Sacred Knights may try to intimidate and terrorise minority members of the community.
“I’m not here to shoot anybody, it’s an anti-fascist statement,” he said.
City officials estimated that between 500 and 600 people were in the rally area.
Dayton spent approximately $650,000 on security costs for public safety, as officials were concerned about both concealed and open carry of firearms. The safety measures were necessary, city manager Shelley Dickstein said, because “the world has changed greatly.”
Dayton police chief Richard Biehl said he was “very pleased” with security regarding the rally, noting that no one was arrested, and no use of force incidents and no injuries were reported.
“This clearly was a safety challenge for our city and our community,” he added.
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