Anti- Racist Action
ARA
South Bend
Klan violence follows uneventful rally
We hope you had a great Cinco de Mayo, 2001.
We know that we did!!!
The Klan came to town and well...
they sucked - we were awesome.
End of story.
OK, so that's not the end of the story,
there's some details to clear up and some kudos to hand out and some...well here, just read this:
ARA South Bend would like to thank everyone who turned out for our NON-violent demonstration at the klan rally on Cinco de Mayo. We especially appreciate the work done by Lee and Caroline, Naomi, and the South Bend Coaltion Against Racism.
Regretfully, violence broke out when the Klan attacked a group of innocent bystanders on the way back to their klanmobiles. Arrests were made, and you can check back here for more information on the situation as we get it. No ARA members were involved in the violence that the Klan instigated.
According to the local news there were 8 total arrests, 5 of those arrests were Klan members or supporters. 2 of the arrests were minors. There were 2 bystanders arrested, the mother of a young bi-racial child and a Washington HS freshman. Our hearts and thoughts go out to the Simmons and the Juhasz family for their trouble.
ARA South Bend is committed to non-violence and we deplore the violence displayed by these klan members. During and after the rally, we maintained our strict stance against violence. It appears that the Klan maintained their strict stance towards violence. Time and time again Klan rhetoric instigates their own supporters to violence, and this is just another example of what happens when the klan is allowed to roam un-checked.
The South Bend Coaltion Against Racism, of which ARA was a part, joined the Christ Church Unity Rally held across the street from the rally and the Cinco de Mayo celebration at Howard Park. We feel the anti-klan demonstration was a success. Our message was heard and well-recieved. Our community will not stand for this kind of hate and violence. We remain committed to working for diversity, fairness and justice for all citizens of the Michiana area.
We also wish to take this oppoprtunity to urge our city leaders to enact the proper laws and ordinances that would pass the burden of the cost for this type of rally and "parade" back on to the people who are responsible for it. We counted approximately a dozen Klan members and possibly 4 supporters present at this rally. Why is it the responsibilty of the other 200,000 citizens of St Joe County to pick up the tab?
these links will be updated daily until this whole thing simmers down a bit
events leading up to Cinco de Mayo
Cinco de Mayo Klan violence
community reactions to the Klan rally
what our politicians are doing about it
back
