KKK Plans Sept. 2 Rally At Gettysburg Battlefield

By Deborah Fitts

GETTYSBURG, Pa. — On Sept. 2 the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) is planning a rally on the Gettysburg battlefield, after receiving a permit to do so from officials at Gettysburg National Military Park.

The rally is being organized by Klan Imperial Wizard the Rev. Gordon Young, 40, a resident of Sharpsburg, Md., who held a similar gathering at the Antietam battlefield June 10. That rally drew 25 Klansmen, 30 protesters and about 200 law-enforcement officers, who turned out in force in case of a clash.

Young’s Sept. 2 event is scheduled for 1 to 4 p.m. on the east lawn of the Cyclorama Center.

Sensitive to widespread animosity toward the KKK, Superintendent John Latschar took the unusual step of issuing a statement. He noted that the park granted the special use permit under the First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of speech.

“The group’s activities are inflammatory, controversial, and will undoubtedly create an emotional response in many of the park visitors and our community,” Latschar wrote.

“However, it is important to note that the National Park Service mission in preserving and protecting the historic resources at Gettysburg includes making them available to all Americans, even those whose views are contrary to the majority of the American public.”

Latschar added, “As custodians of land owned by the American people, the National Park Service has a responsibility to make that land available for exercising those rights.”

Park spokesman Katie Lawhon said the public will be allowed to observe the rally.

Latschar said that outside law-enforcement agencies would assist the park “to make certain that demonstrators, visitors and staff experience a safe atmosphere on the day of the event.”

Interviewed by The Civil War News in May, the Rev. Young said the Klan’s message would be to protest “the invasion that we’re suffering from all these immigrants.” He said the federal government was “treasoning against us” by allowing illegal aliens to enter the country. He also cited gay marriage as an issue opposed by the Klan.

At the Antietam rally only two Klansmen wore the traditional white robe and hood. The Klan customarily flies the Klan flag, the Confederate battle flag and the Nazi swastika. Young said the Klan “symbolizes the ghosts of the Confederacy.”

According to Lawhon, the Klan last appeared at the park in the mid-1980s when five members handed out leaflets near the Cyclorama Center. There were no incidents.