KKK planning rally at SC Statehouse to protest Confederate flag removal

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A chapter of the Ku Klux Klan has been approved to hold a protest rally at the South Carolina Statehouse next month, according to a Politico report.

The Loyal White Knights of the KKK’s Pelham, North Carolina chapter will protest the removal of the Confederate flag, which a spokesman said will be taken down for “all the wrong reasons.”

Brian Gaines, spokesman for the S.C. Budget and Control Board, said that the permit was approved because the board approves permits is the space is available and has not previously been reserved for that time.

The rally is currently scheduled for Saturday, July 18 from 3 to 5 p.m.

“This is our state, and they are not welcome,” South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley said in a statement.

Robert Jones, grand dragon for the group, said that the Confederate battle flag was a symbol of white culture and history.

In a phone interview with the Post and Courier, he praised Dylann Roof, the shooter who killed nine people at a South Carolina church earlier this month in a racially-motivated hate crime. A recorded message on the Klan’s answering machine referred to Roof as a “warrior” for their cause.

James Spears, the chapter’s ‘Great Titan,’ said he “feels sorry” for Roof and thinks he “picked the wrong target.”

“A better target for him would have been these gang-bangers, running around rapping, raping and stealing,” Spears told Politico.