New Black Panther Party & KKK Engage In Standoff Over Confederate Flag [Photos]

Reports The Washington Post:

The Loyal White Knights of the KKK, which calls itself the largest chapter in the United States, held a rally in Columbia, S.C., on Saturday afternoon to protest the removal of the flag, which was spearheaded by Republican Gov. Nikki Haley.

The New Black Panther Party showed up earlier in the day to protest, on the north side of the statehouse. Members encouraged the hundreds who came to keep things peaceful, while also encouraging African Americans to take ownership of their problems and fight back when necessary.

When Klansmen arrived later, the groups clashed intermittently. A man wearing a Confederate flag vest was slugged in the head, and a skirmish erupted. Police could be seen breaking up other fights, detaining people and hauling them away. One group stole a Confederate flag and sought to set it on fire before police intervened.

The Klan rally, which ended around 4 p.m., featured no speakers but chants of “White power!” from the around 100 who attended.

Saturday’s event followed a swift reckoning for the Confederate flag that began soon after photos of Charleston shooting suspect Dylann Roof surfaced, showing him displaying banner long associated with racial hate groups like the Klan. Roof, an apparently self-radicalized loner who grew up in and around South Carolina’s diverse capital city, is accused of killing nine people praying at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., last month.

Check out pictures of the standoff on the flip. As you can see, the only thing keeping these trolls empowered these days is trolling.