Call-In to Get the Klan and Neo-Nazis Out of Tennessee Parks!

Call to flood the phone-lines in Tennessee to demand that the ongoing white supremacist conferences being organized in public parks by violent Ku-Klux-Klan and neo-Nazi groups come to an end! For information on the upcoming protest mobilization, go here.

Some of the biggest leaders to come out of the most violent and racist movements in US history: the Ku-Klux-Klan, neo-Nazism, and the Alt-Right, are all set to converge in Burns, Tennessee (right outside of Nashville) from Friday, June 28th to Sunday, June 30th for the so-called “Nationalist Solutions” conference at Montgomery Bell State Park. The conference is being organized only a month after another white nationalist conference at the same park took place, the so-called American Renaissance conference, which is organized by Jared Taylor, who also is believed to have helped set up the Nationalist Solutions conference as well, and is connected to one of the groups putting on the event, the Council for Conservative Citizens.

A flyer for the Nationalist Solutions conference in 2019, which till take place at the Montgomery Bell State Park in Burns, Tennessee.

From worshiping Adolf Hitler as a young boy to leading the KKK, David Duke has devoted his life to the cause of building an all white fascist State.

The event will feature two of the most notorious white power leaders in the United States, including former KKK grand dragon and long time neo-Nazi David Duke, who’s early career in the KKK was recently the subject of the popular film, Black Klansman. Duke will also speak along side Richard Spencer, one of the organizers and speakers of the deadly ‘Unite the Right’ rally in Charlottesville, which ended in the death of Heather Heyer.

Also speaking at the conference will be longtime Klan activist Rachel Pendergraft of the “Knights Party,” a collection of KKK members and neo-Nazis that includes Billy Roper, who once stated:

“Every non-White on the planet has to become extinct. We need to remove these minor-league amateur races out of the game, and refine the playoff brackets a bit, if you get my meaning. The whole world is ours, and the only part of the earth that non-Whites should inherit is however much it requires to cover them.”

Rachel Pendergraft on the left.

Rachel Pendergraft giving Nazi salute.

Many other academic and racist speakers will also give talks, from “academic” anti-Semitic writer Kevin McDonald, white power lawyer and founder of the neo-Nazi group, the American Freedom Party, William Johnson, to the League of the South (LoS) leader Michael Hill, who helped lead a collection of neo-Nazis, KKK members, and neo-Confederates at Unite the Right.

James Alex Fields with other neo-Nazis who are part of the Nationalist Front carry shields at Unite the Right. The Nationalist Front was a collection of neo-Nazi and neo-Confederate groups. One of its leaders, Michael Hill, is speaking at the Nationalist Solutions conference.

Up until recently, the League of the South was part of the Nationalist Front, a collection of neo-Nazi and neo-Confederate groups, who collectively marched at Unite the Right in Charlottesville. One of the groups, Vanguard America, became well know because the killer of Heather Heyer marched with the group and wore its uniform.

League of the South members in front of a burning swastika after a rally in Georgia.

Other groups attending will be the Council for Conservative citizens, most well know for penning a manifesto which helped inspire the ideas of mass murderer, Dlyann Roof.

Dylann Roof was influenced by the Council of Conservative Citizens, a long-running white nationalist group.

We are asking that on top of joining in local demonstrations, that people make respectful calls to Cassie Rapert, the Director of Conference Event Reservation, who is in charge of booking events at the park, and Commissioner David Salyers, a new political appointee to the park system. We demand that the State of Tennessee stop booking KKK, neo-Nazi, and white nationalists events in public parks!

One of the "suit and tie" white supremacists we photographed going into the American Renaissance conference in Tennessee today was Peter Tefft.

Tefft has long been involved with the National Socialist Movement, which grew out of the original American Nazi Party. pic.twitter.com/QHvc9rJA4C

— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) May 18, 2019

Violent members of the KKK and neo-Nazi groups, which time and time again have used the space to organize and promote violent events like Unite the Right are not wanted in the area. In 2017, a conference goer at American Renaissance attacked a counter-protester, causing both of them to fall down the side of a creek, requiring helicopters to fly in and retrieve them. Moreover, at each of these events, the KKK and neo-Nazis are depending on the costly police and private security on hand – that we the public are paying for. All of this leads to a potentially violent environment, where the public loses access to public spaces and is under threat from attacks by racist groups with a history of violence. This infringes on the rights and speech of all, while protecting a small group of violent racists.

Call-In Script:

“Hello, I am calling about the upcoming “Nationalist Solutions” conference, which is the second white supremacist gathering at the same location in recent months. Tennessee must refuse to allow these violent groups the ability to meet and organize on public property. By protecting and facilitating these groups’ organizing, you are creating an unsafe environment for the vast majority of the population who uses these parks and who historically have been targeted by organizations like the KKK and the neo-Nazis. Violence has already broken out at these conferences in the past and there are many examples of members of these organizations being linked to acts of terror and violence. We demand that you not allow these groups access to the park nor provide them with police protection and instead return it to the public at large which is made up of all colors and walks of life.”

Numbers to Call:

• Cassie Rapert, Director of Conference Event Reservations, Point of Contact for Booking all Events: 615-920-3432
• David Salyers, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, New Political Appointee: 615-532-0109