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Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the July 4, 1996
issue of Workers World newspaper
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Anti-Klan Protesters Battle Cops

By Jane Cutter in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Despite a massive police presence designed to stifle the voice of the anti-racist majority, about a thousand people braved tear gas and mace to protest the presence of the Ku Klux Klan in Ann Arbor, Mich. on June 22.

Eight people were arrested and charged with felonious assault on a police officer. One protester's leg was broken following a tear-gas attack.

The role of the state in protecting the racists was chillingly evident. According to the Ann Arbor Police Department, over 200 cops were deployed in the area from the AAPD, Washtenaw County Sheriff's Department, the University of Michigan and the National Guard.

The Klan had received a permit to rally at the Guy Larcom Municipal Building in downtown Ann Arbor. In the days before the demonstration, police had leafleted the neighborhood around the Larcom Building, warning residents that police might use tear gas to disperse the counter-demonstrators.

The city covered the front doors with plywood, encircled the parking garage with chain-link fences, and blocked car traffic on three adjacent streets. The chain-link fences were plastered with signs warning that anyone who touched the fence would be maced.

The Klan made their appearance between two plywood shields on the roof of the Municipal Building. City Hall literally provided them with a platform from which to spew their vile message.

The estimated cost to the taxpayers was between $50,000 and $80,000.

Demonstrators began gathering between 10 and 11 a.m. at two sites near the University of Michigan Central Campus. By 11:15, both groups had converged on Huron Street in front of the Municipal Building. People continued to arrive, swelling the crowd.

Speakers included representatives of La Alianza at U of M, Huron High School Black Students Union, Active Transformation of Lansing, Ann Arbor Organizing Against the Klan, the Free Mumia Coalition, the Wobblies and Workers World Party.

When people first caught sight of the Klan on the roof, a deafening roar went up and some rocks were thrown. Although the racists were high up in the air and behind several layers of barricades, a lucky throw managed to send one hatemonger to the hospital.

As the Klan rally drew to a close, protesters moved around the block hoping to catch the Klan as the police escorted them out of City Hall. The police began lobbing tear-gas canisters. No verbal request to disperse was ever given.

Some canisters were picked up and thrown back. Workers World Party members organized immediate first aid for teargas and mace victims. A protester's leg was broken in the melee as people ran away from the tear gas.

A unified defense committee is being formed to demand dropping all charges; suspending cops who brutalized demonstrators; and an independent investigation of police conduct.

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