Threat Of Left-Wing Protests Closes Stone Mountain On Saturday

STONE MOUNTAIN, GA -- Stone Mountain Park announced Friday evening the park will be closed on Saturday, as several left-wing organizations were planning to protest a now-cancelled white nationalist rally. According to City of Stone Mountain Police Chief Chancey Troutman, several groups had vowed to hold unpermitted demonstrations within the park, one of Georgia's top tourist attractions.

"Local, state, and federal officials have developed a plan to minimize the disruption to our citizens and those planning to enjoy our park and village," Troutman said on the department's Facebook page. "We will strictly be enforcing trespassing, traffic, and parking regulations, and we hope that you will report any suspicious or criminal activity to 911 immediately.

"In the interest of informing our community, you should know that the groups are a fragmentary collection of activist organizations motivated by racial politics," Troutman said. "This type of event may attract fringe elements seeking attention or with intent to cause trouble. These groups do not represent the Stone Mountain community, and we will not tolerate such folks disturbing the peacefulness of our Village."

The Stone Mountain Memorial Association said no vehicles or pedestrian traffic will be allowed into the park on Saturday. Only hotel and campground guests will be allowed entry and exit through the park gate.

The park's closing comes on the eve of Super Bowl Sunday, with an estimated 1 million in metro Atlanta for Super Bowl LIII. An anti-KKK organization was planning to protest a white nationalist rally on Saturday, but on Thursday, one of its leaders, John Estes confirmed the protest had been cancelled. Nonetheless, at least one anti-KKK organization, the FLOWER (Front Line Organization Working to End Racism) Coalition, was planning to gather on Saturday anyway.

Read more: Civil Rights Organization Planning Saturday Stone Mountain Rally

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Stone Mountain Memorial Association denied a request from Greg Calhoun and Estes, the organizers of Rock Stone Mountain II, to hold a rally at the park.

Stone Mountain is one of the world's largest granite outcroppings, but its carving of three Confederate leaders on its facing has made the park a target of racial protests for years. The KKK held rallies and cross burnings atop the mountain from the 1940s through the 1960s, but recently, the park's Confederate-themed carving has drawn the ire of anti-white nationalist groups. In 2016, several people were arrested when civil rights and social justice advocates clashed with white supremacists.

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31st December 1969: Giant stone mountain figures sculptured in granite rock on Stone Mountain, Atlanta, Georgia. The figures represent Jefferson Davis, the only President of the Confederate States of America with Confederate Generals Robert E Lee and Stonewall Jackson. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)