ATLANTA — Suburban Atlanta’s Stone Mountain Park, home of a giant sculpture of Confederate leaders, says it will close its gates Saturday in the face of a planned right-wing rally.
The event has sparked fears of violence, especially before an all-Black militia said earlier this week that it would cancel plans to show up. Other groups were still planning to counterprotest.
Pro-Confederate, white supremacist and other right-wing groups had planned their event in response to a march by the Black militia group on July 4.
Last year, the park also closed down rather than allow a rally organized by white supremacists to go forward.
The organizers were led by an Arkansas group called Confederate States III%, which applied for a permit. But Stone Mountain Memorial Association spokesperson John Bankhead said the park denied the permit on Aug. 4. The denial cited a violent clash between groups in April 2016. Bankhead said the park has not received any other permit applications. He said police would be present to keep demonstrators away.
Bankhead said the park will reopen Sunday.
Stone Mountain City Manager ChaQuias Miller-Thornton told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the city also received a permit request for a rally but that too was denied because it was received too close to the requested date. The city last week advised residents to stay home and businesses to close down.
Supporters had continued to claim this week on social media that they have valid permits.
The predominantly Black demonstrators on July 4 spoke out against the huge sculpture depicting Gen. Robert E. Lee, Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson. Carved into a granite mountain, the bas-relief sculpture is the largest Confederate monument ever crafted.
The 100 to 200 protesters, many of whom carried large rifles, were peaceful.
Although the park has historically been a gathering spot for white supremacists, the adjoining city of Stone Mountain has a majority-Black population today.
The park at Stone Mountain markets itself as a family theme park rather than a shrine to the “Lost Cause” mythology that romanticizes the Confederacy as chivalrous defenders of states’ rights. It’s a popular recreation spot for many families on the east side of Atlanta, with hiking trails, a golf course, boat rentals and other attractions. The park has long been known for its laser light shows, but those have been cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jeff Amy, The Associated Press
