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An estimated 3,000 people arrived in downtown Austin on Saturday to demonstrate against the Texas chapter of the American White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, which held a rally in front of City Hall to voice support for Proposition 2.
Seven members of the Klan and five supporters of their message rallied in front of the City Hall public plaza from 1 p.m. to about 1:45 p.m. The group's leader, Steven Edwards, the grand dragon of the Texas American White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, delivered a message of what he called "pro-American Christian values."
"Jesus loves gay people and wants them to repent," Edwards said. "Texans will vote for Proposition 2 not because the Klan supports it, but because there are enough people with a sense of morality to not let this happen."
About 200 police officers were on duty for the event, some wearing riot gear and clutching batons and rubber-bullet rifles. While some protesters screamed obscenities, most remained peaceful, and only two arrests were made on Saturday. One man was arrested for carrying a club and causing a disturbance and another was arrested for having outstanding warrants, said Toni Chovanetz, Austin Police Department public information officer.
Several city blocks in front of City Hall were blocked off by Austin police, including Cesar Chavez Street from Guadalupe Street to Colorado Street, and the South First Street bridge, effectively preventing anyone but members of the media from getting close to the Klan members.
The human rights activist group Texas Civil Rights Project plans to file a federal lawsuit against the city of Austin on Monday. They claim members of certain media outlets, as well as the demonstrators opposed to the Klan, were denied access to the rally, according to President Jim Harrington.
While the Klansmen decided not to wear their signature white robes, many wore Confederate flag bandanas over their faces to hide their identities. Most were dressed in black and some carried wooden shields and Confederate flags.
According to Chovanetz, about 2,000 counter-protesters lined the South First Street bridge over Town Lake in front of City Hall and another 1,000 demonstrated in the streets around the plaza.
On the bridge, members of gay rights groups No Nonsense in November, Soulforce Austin and the Atticus Circle led the peaceful demonstration, playing Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind" and John Lennon's "Imagine." The crowd chanted "Racists go home" and held up signs including messages such as "God knows I'm gay and loves me" and "KKK has got to go."
"I stand with my back to hate, looking at literally thousands of Texans," said Glen Maxey, a former state representative and head of No Nonsense in November, who spoke to the crowd on the bridge via megaphone. "While our right to love each other is put up for public vote, I am uplifted by this support."
While Klan leader Edwards implored people to go out on Tuesday and vote for the constitutional amendment which would define marriage as between one man and one woman, he was unaware of any other propositions that were on the ballot.
Klan members insisted during their rally that they were not participating in hate speech, but instead were supporting traditional values.
"The hate words come out of that crowd over there," said a masked Klan member who called himself "Klaliff." "They're the ones playing Communist music and saying 'death to the Klan.'"
Chovanetz said the Klan left City Hall by 2:00 p.m. Downtown traffic was flowing by 2:45 p.m.
Protesters, including Bonn Ramsey of Austin, said they hope that the Klan's rally will encourage moderate Texans to vote against Proposition 2 on Election Day Tuesday.
"People will think at the ballot: 'Do I really want to support what the KKK endorses?'" Ramsey said. "Austin's riled up now. It reaffirms the work we have to do."
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