13 arrested after melee erupts between Ku Klux Klan members and counter protesters in California.
The Los Angeles Times reports that violence erupted at a Ku Klux Klan rally in Anaheim, California, resulting in three people being stabbed and thirteen arrests – six Klan members and seven others – for assault with a deadly weapon.
Several men in black garb with Confederate flag patches arrived at Pearson Park in an SUV early Saturday afternoon, and fighting broke out moments after the Klan members began exiting the vehicle, according to The Los Angeles Times. “Some of the protesters could be seen kicking a man whose shirt read ‘Grand Dragon.’ At some point, a protester collapsed on the ground bleeding, crying that he had been stabbed.”
A Klansman in handcuffs could be heard telling a police officer that he “stabbed him in self-defense.” Several other people were also handcuffed.
Witnesses said the Klansmen used the point of a flagpole as a weapon while fighting with protesters.
Two other protesters were stabbed during the melee — one with a knife and the other with an unidentified weapon, said Sgt. Daron Wyatt of the Anaheim Police Department.
As The Los Angeles Times reports, “Brian Levin, director of Cal State San Bernardino’s Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, said he was standing near the KKK members when several protesters attacked them with two-by-fours and other weapons.”
According to Levin, several Klan members fled in their SUV leaving three others to “fend for themselves.”
Levin told The Los Angeles Times that he had been attempting to interview the leader of the Ku Klux Klan, William Quigg – a resident of Anaheim.
According to The Los Angeles Times:
Quigg is the leader of the Loyal White Knights in California and other Western states, a sect of the hate group that aims to raise awareness about illegal immigration, terrorism and street crime, Levin said. They see themselves as a “Klan without robes” and model themselves after David Duke, the Louisiana-based former grand wizard of the Klan.
CBS2’s Laurie Perez talked to witnesses and reports that both sides are claiming the other side started the violence.
“This just goes to show how immature they are,” said KKK leader Quigg, adding: “We came here for a peaceful protest and they came here and jumped on us.”
“They started pulling out weapons,” said one protester, “Them. They. They started pulling out weapons.”
According to CBS2 Saturday evening, Anaheim Police listed the people in custody, their charges and bail amounts: Charles Edward Donner, 51, of San Francisco, assault with a deadly weapon, $25,000; Nicole Rae Schop, 24, of Los Angeles, elder abuse, $50,000; Marquis DeShawn Turner, 20, of Anaheim, assault with a deadly weapon, $25,000; Randy Omarcc Felder, 25, of Lakewood, assault with a deadly weapon, $25,000; Mark Anthony Liddell, 26, of Los Angeles, elder abuse, $50,000 bail; Guy Harris, 19, transient, assault with a deadly weapon, $25,000; and Hugo Contreras, 38, of Hawthorne, elder abuse, $50,000.
Additionally, “Officials said one man was critically stabbed — possibly by the pointed end of an eagle on top of a flagpole that was sporting a Confederate flag. Late Saturday, police said the man’s condition was upgraded to stable.”
You can watch a news clip from CBS2 followed by exclusive cell phone footage of the incident.
Exclusive footage of KKK members clashing with counter protesters.
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