Georgia’s state body rejected a group of white supremacists request to stage a rally at Stone Mountain Park in February 2019 during Super Bowl LIII.
Greg Calhoun and John Estes, who organized the “white power” event, requested in their application to hold a “non-partisan gathering” that would “call attention to the efforts of the extreme left and Communists to remove history and monuments of the American people.”
However, officials who oversee the park felt the rally would bestow “a clear and present danger” to public safety according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The Stone Mountain Memorial Association sent the organizers a letter on Nov 7. denying their permit for the “Rock Stone Mountain II.”
(photo credit: Atlanta Journal-Constitution / white men walking at a rally Joseph Andrews, from left, of Woodstock, Shaun Winkler of Mississippi and James Berry of Michigan)
“Based on the previous violent event held by your organization on April 23, 2016, as well as your acknowledgement of potential violence in the permit application comments,” Association CEO Bill Stephens wrote. “The Stone Mountain Park Department of Public Safety does not have the available resources to protect not only the members of your organization but the Park employees and general public.”
Calhoun and Estes make their racist beliefs clear on MeWe, a social networking website. On an online application, people must answer if “they are ‘interested in securing the existence of Our People and a future for White children?'” which is similar to white supremacist David Lane’s “14 Words” slogan.
The inspiration for the proposed rally after Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams run for Georgia governor. Abrams called for the removal of Robert E. Lee and two other Confederacy carvings in 2017. However, white supremacists are seeking to counter-protests the statues removing.
In 2016, the first “Rock Stone Mountain” rally was held and deemed as a “white power” event that brought a “handful” of Confederate supporters who outnumbered by counter-protesters.
