Gov. Nikki Haley speaks out about the Ku Klux Klan rally that will be at the South Carolina Statehouse Saturday.
Members of the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan requested to hold the rally from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Calling itself the “Largest Klan in America,” the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan are based in Pelham, N.C., according to its website.
Governor Nikki Haley said:
“The strength and grace the people of South Carolina have shown over the last three weeks have inspired our family, our neighbors and the entire world. Our family hopes the people of South Carolina will join us in staying away from the disruptive, hateful spectacle members of the Ku Klux Klan hope to create over the weekend and instead focus on what brings us together. We want to make the Statehouse a lonely place for them. In doing so, we’ll honor those we have lost and continue to make our state stronger.”
The Ku Klux Klan’s website’s front page includes a message opposing efforts to ban the Confederate flag, which have taken off in the days since nine African-American churchgoers were shot and killed on June 17 in Charleston in what authorities have called a hate crime.
“If you can’t tell, they are trying to wipe us out of the history books,” the message reads. “Tell this Marxist government they better not dishonor out ancestors graves.”