Ku Klux Klan (KKK) members drove through the town of Roxboro, North Carolina, to celebrate President-elect Donald Trump’s victory.
The police and town officials are holding a press conference on Monday to address this. Their parade was moved at the last minute. They were supposed to be in Pelham, but they changed it to Roxboro to avoid conflicts after protesters gathered in Pelham.
In Roxboro, a town of about 8,000 residents, members of the KKK drove 20-30 cars down the street. They were shouting “White power!” and other phrases. The whole parade lasted about five minutes.
Close up photo of one of approximately 30 cars in KKK's "victory parade" this afternoon in Roxboro. pic.twitter.com/ElnU3KTgoI
— Natalie Allison (@natalie_allison) December 3, 2016
Roxboro Police Chief David Hess started blocking off roads to get the KKK to leave faster. He made sure to say that he doesn’t condone the parade.
Hess said:
“I and the City of Roxboro do not condone the beliefs of the KKK. We understand their presence invoked raw emotions. I will address those emotions and the justified legal response of the police department during the press conference. I ask the community continue to remain calm.”
A former KKK Grand Wizard, David Duke, endorsed Donald Trump early on in the campaign. Trump got a lot of flack in the news because he wouldn’t immediately disavow the racist group.
Duke said:
“…Voting against Donald Trump at this point is really treason to your heritage.”
Amanda Barker, an “imperial kommander” [sic] of the Loyal White Knights who is married to the founder of the group said:
“Actually we have the same views. A lot of white Americans felt the same way, especially about the wall, immigration and the terrorism coming here. I think Donald Trump is going to do some really good things and turn this country around.”
I guess Trump’s racist rhetoric during the campaign resonated with these people. Trump started his campaign calling Mexicans rapists, so the KKK probably enjoyed that. It’s a bit scary having a President-elect who has racist groups supporting him.
Featured image via Twitter
