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On the eve of the Super Bowl weekend with about 1 million visitors in town, one of the largest and most recognizable tourist spots in the state announced its closure on Saturday.
The Stone Mountain Memorial Association announced the closing of the 3,600-person show. Acre park, best known for the gigantic sculpture of Confederate rulers on the face of the granite mountain, as he could not adequately control an influx of leftist protesters who planned to gather there.
allowed in the park. Only guests of hotels and campgrounds will be allowed in and out through the park gate, "said the association's board of directors in a brief statement released Friday night. "Security problems have been identified and are being handled by state and local law enforcement authorities."
Although out of season, the park attracts thousands of tourists every weekend and over 4 million a year.
Announced until Friday at the end of the day, park officials know since November that white supremacists and nationalists are planning a rally for the Super Bowl weekend. The authorities had been planning to close the park for at least a week after the group had promised to hold the rally despite the refusal to obtain a permit.
On Thursday, this group announced that they had canceled their rally because of infighting and fears for their personal safety. But a coalition of leftist activists who spent weeks organizing a counter-demonstration announced that she would go to the park anyway "in a spirit of celebration".
The coalition of counter-protesters issued a statement Friday night criticizing the closure, saying it was unfair. local residents and a palliative measure that eliminates the problem of sculpture. Sean Wolters, an All Out ATL activist, said the park was "stupid" to treat his group as though it constituted the same threat "as a white nationalist rally".
The coalition declared that it would pursue its plan of march. on the park Saturday morning.
In a Facebook post on Friday, Stone Mountain Police Chief Chancey Troutman pledged to strictly enforce municipal parking and property violation orders.
"These groups do not represent the community of Stone Mountain. will not tolerate such people disturbing the calm of our village, "he said.
The decision to close during one of the most visible weekends in history Atlanta is astounding, however, park officials may have considered that it was better to leave a chaotic scene unfold before the hundreds of journalists around the world in Atlanta at the Super Bowl. [19659002] Mass sculpture continues to be a source of controversy In 2017, Democrat Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams asked that the sculpture be removed, although she moderated her point of view later during the campaign and stated that she wished to have a "conversation" about the future of the monument.
NAACP President in Atlanta, Richard Rose According to Atlanta Journal-Constitution, he has spoke to international journalists "stunned that Georgia r Stone Mountain, "Park spokesman John Bankhead said the closure was" conservative "given the resources available.
The priority is the well-being and safety of visitors, "he said.
Michael Thurmond, DeKalb County CEO, former member of the Stone Mountain Board of Directors, said he supported the decision to close the park "for caution". "
" Clearly, it was a decision made in concert with the police to protect all citizens, "said Thurmond.
Park is home to a hotel complex Marriott's 336 rooms and more than 400 campsites for caravans, campers and tents.The expected participation for this weekend was not available, but the park can attract a gigantic crowd. The arts and crafts of the Yellow Daisy, which lasts four days, attracts about 200,000 people.
The extra attention given to the Super Bowl explains why the organizers of white supremacy and white nationalists have chosen this weekend
a target for extremist groups, starting with the Ku Klux Klan which marked its "rebirth" as an organization marked by a cross engraved at the top of the mountain in 1915. The latter years, this sculpture was u A n lightning point between small groups of white supremacists and other right-wing radicals and a larger coalition of left-wing groups determined to disrupt them.
The organizers of the so-called "pro-white" rally called Rock Stone Mountain II staged a similar protest in 2016 that resulted in hours of conflict between hundreds of counter-protesters and the police who held the crowd. Despite the assistance of the Georgia State Patrol and other police departments, park officials finally decided to close the doors during this rally, citing disturbances and violence.
Police forces could seek the same help from other jurisdictions.
The closure will affect local visitors who frequent the park on foot and on foot, as well as many tourists from outside the city. Bankhead said the park had warned buyers of online tickets purchased in advance for park attractions, including the popular "Snow Mountain".
Concerns about disturbances in the park during the Super Bowl began in October when the organizers of the original Rock Stone Mountain, longtime Klan and neo-Nazi activists announced their intend to organize a new rally on their Facebook page. Park officials rejected their permit application in November because of the violence and disorder that had resulted from the 2016 rally, but the activists behind this effort never canceled it.
Michael Weaver, a self-proclaimed white nationalist, complained about the problem. caused by the massive number of counter-demonstrators, rather than by its small group. Weaver, who is also known as Michael Carothers, said the group wanted to challenge the First Amendment's refusal, but that they were unable to find a lawyer willing to represent them.
In a lengthy statement posted on his blog Thursday, Weaver accused "a series of barrages regarding the logistics behind planning this event" for the group's decision to cancel the rally. He added that the group was considering fighting for a permit in court and postponing the event until later in the year. But John Michael Estes, another of the organizers, blamed internal problems, including "rats" and "informants" in cooperating far-right organizations.
"I am the only person I can trust," he said. Facebook Live recorded Wednesday. "It's like that when you start dealing with these movement organizations."
In the recorded video, Estes seemed shot down.
"Our only hope is guerrilla warfare. Small cells of three to five people. Resistance without leader. I do not know three to five people I could trust during all my years of activism, "he said.
Thurmond said the Rock Stone Mountain collapse the lack of strength of this extremist camp.
"Celebrate the fact that this guy can not bring another person with him," he said. "And we'll just get together and enjoy the Super Bowl."
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