Huge Crowd Takes to the Streets in Durham to Beat Back Rumored KKK Rally

If there’s one town that’s had enough of this racist, neo-Confederate nonsense, it’s Durham, NC.

A huge crowd of locals gathered on Friday to beat back a rumored protest being planned by the Ku Klux Klan. While no white supremacist groups had shown up by the time this post went up, Durham residents took the opportunity to take an unequivocal stand against fascism and white supremacy.

And, it turns out, throw a pretty epic dance party in the middle of it all.

Hundreds marched down Mangum Street holding banners and chanting “No Trump! No KKK! No fascist USA!”

Virginia Bridges, a Durham-based reporter who was at the scene of the protests, chronicled the crowd as it moved toward the old Durham County courthouse, where, earlier in the week, a Confederate statue had been torn down by local activists.

The city has seen monumental resistance this week following the deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, VA. On Monday, protesters took matters into their own hands and brought down a statue of a Confederate soldier which stood in front of the old Durham County Courthouse. Days later, as police began rounding up those involved to bring criminal charges against them, hundreds of North Carolinians showed up at the courthouse to turn themselves in en masse.

But rumors that the KKK had planned to march on downtown today prompted local officials to send county employees home early. According to WRAL, just before noon, county workers were advised to take their belongings and go home, and to avoid downtown.

Word traveled through social media that the KKK had pushed their demonstration back to 4 pm, but police claim they never issued a permit to the KKK for an evening protest, WRAL reported.

The Raleigh News and Observer wrote that, after word rippled through the crowd that the KKK had “turned back,” the peaceful demonstration drew to a close and the protesters went home.