2 stabbed at KKK gathering in Southern California

A confrontation in Anaheim, California resulted in numerous injuries today when a Ku Klux Klan rally devolved into a brawl with counter-protestors.

“I wouldn’t want to take my kids to the park to play soccer if I knew people were going to be engaged in this kind of behavior on this day”, Anaheim Sgt. Daron Wyatt told the LA Times before the rally.

Around 11am, several dozen protesters gathered at Pearson Park where the Klan had announced they were planning to hold a rally at 1.30pm.

“Go in there, you’re going to meet people who are going to have the same kind of mindset that you have”, Duke said.

At about 12pm, men dressed in black clothing with Confederate flag patches showed up at the park and were escorted by police, according to The Los Angeles Times.

Three people, all believed to be counter-protesters, were stabbed, with one of them in critical condition.

The Klan members attempted to get back into the auto as it sped off, leaving them behind, said Dion Garcia, 37.

A Klansman was detained after the stabbing, police said.

“As soon as they got out of their vehicle, immediately they were attacked by counter-protesters and this caused a melee down the block”, he said. Last year, the group drew headlines when it protested the removal of the Confederate flag from the South Carolina Capitol.

Levin said he pushed the Klan leader away as the violence continued and a protester was stabbed.

The man replied “thank you”, according to Levin.

The Klan once held political power in Anaheim, and held up to five City Council seats before a recall effort led to their dismissal in 1924.

The Klan, a white supremacist group known for their white robes and peaked hoods often worn by its members, has a long history of violence toward African-Americans, Jews and others, according the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups in the United States. A large KKK rally once attracted 20,000 people to the city. However, they were pushed out of Southern California by an anti-Klan group, USA Club-“Union, Service, Americanism”-who came in and put their backing toward non-Klansman candidates”. At least 100 resident’s of Whitter and Fullerton received packets containing KKK fliers and candy.