NC police plan news conference after KKK drives through town

ROXBORO, NC — Police in Roxboro plan to have a news conference Monday after a Ku Klux Klan caravan rolled through the town on Saturday.

The KKK had about 20 vehicles pass through Roxboro as law enforcement blocked roads to help the group “leave the city as fast as possible,” Roxboro Police Chief David Hess said in an email.

The unannounced event in Roxboro came after a stabbing and two arrests at a KKK meeting less than a day before a planned event in Pelham in Caswell County on Saturday.

The Pelham event never materialized and instead the Klan drove through Roxboro in about 5 minutes with only a couple of bystanders, officials said.

The Roxboro event, in which many vehicles flew the Confederate battle flag and displayed Loyal Knights of the KKK emblems, has “invoked raw emotions,” Hess said.

Now, Hess says that in response to public requests for more information, he will speak at noon Monday at the Roxboro Police Department.

Hess also announced there will be a community meeting in Roxboro later this week.

“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,” Hess said.

“I ask the community continue to remain calm.”