HAPPENING TODAY: Militias scheduled to gather at Stone Mountain

Chris Hill’s militia group, Georgia Security Force III%, has retreated to the Stone Mountain Library after being outnumbered and surrounded by jeering counterprotesters.

Police presence at Stone Mountain park has been heavy, but few law enforcement officers were visible in the city of Stone Mountain where militia and counterprotesters confronted one another in tense exchanges.

Gerald Griggs, first vice president of the Atlanta NAACP, said he hoped the rally would remain peaceful and was happy that the crowd was so lopsided in favor of the counter demonstrators.”There are a lot more individuals representing the true American nature here,” he said.

At the Stone Mountain Welcome Center, apart from the clashing protesters, 200 people gathered to listen to Richard Rose of the Atlanta NAACP.

“This is what America looks like,” Rose said, surveying the sea of diverse faces, most wearing masks due to the pandemic. “It does NOT look like what’s on that mountain.”

Rose pressed the group to meet occasionally to dismantle racism. Other speakers talked about addressing forced evictions, lending practices, ballot concerns.

”We are the victims of division and we must counter that,” Rose said. “Cast off these shackles of division … and make it clear we won’t be divided.”

Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020, Stone Mountain — Counter-protesters march down Main Street chanting and carrying banners.

Credit: Chris Joyner

Credit: Chris Joyner

9:45 UPDATE

Protesters have confronted one another at the corner of Main Street and Mimosa Dr. in downtown Stone Mountain after finding the park closed by police.

Counter demonstrators argued loudly with a man carrying a Confederate flag.

“Sherman didn’t teach you enough of a lesson last time,” one masked woman said. “You’re a traitor!”

”You are pedophiles,” the man with flag screamed, repeating a popular internet conspiracy theory about a secret cabal of pedophiles in the “deep state.”

Saturday, Aug. 15., 2020, Stone Mountain — Armed white supremacist militia members confronted leftist counter-protesters in downtown Stone Mountain.

Credit: Chris Joyner

Credit: Chris Joyner

Both sides are heavily armed and are extremely close to one another. Small groups are periodically engaging in a face-to-face shouting matches, surrounded by members of the press.

Two counterprotesters have snatched a Confederate flag from a militia member and set it on fire.

Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020, Stone Mountain –Counter-protesters burn a Confederate flag that was taken from a militia group member in Stone Mountain.

Credit: Chris Joyner

Credit: Chris Joyner

9 a.m. UPDATE

Heavily armed militia members from the Georgia Security Force III%, led by Chris Hill, have gathered in Stone Mountain, about a block from a group of counter-protesters. Some counter-protesters are also carrying assault-style weapons.

From his position behind the barricade, Hill began recording video.

“They will try their best to characterize us as white supremacists,” he said. Hill said his group was there to defend the Constitution from radical leftists. He also railed against red flag laws and repeated the president’s concerns over mail-in ballots.

Some police are relocating from the park to the city of Stone Mountain.

Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020, Stone Mountain — Several far-right groups, including militias and white supremacists, rally at Stone Mountain, and a broad coalition of leftist anti-racist groups are organizing a counter-demonstration.

Credit: Chris Joyner

Credit: Chris Joyner

8: 30 a.m. UPDATE

Our journalists are at the park. The gates are closed and law enforcement officers from the Georgia National Guard, Georgia State Patrol and city of Stone Mountain are gathered at the town entrance to the park. A few protesters hoping to challenge any of the armed militias are also gathering downtown.

8/15/20 – Stone Mountain, GA – A heavy police presence is on hand as several far-right groups, including militias and white supremacists, were planning to rally Saturday at Stone Mountain, and a broad coalition of leftist anti-racist groups are organizing a counter-demonstration. Local authorities, who have been closely monitoring online chatter about the rally, are bracing for possible conflict. Alyssa Pointer / alyssa.pointer@ajc.com

Credit: Alyssa Pointer

Credit: Alyssa Pointer

8/15/20 – Stone Mountain, GA – A heavy police presence is on hand as several far-right groups, including militias and white supremacists, were planning to rally Saturday at Stone Mountain, and a broad coalition of leftist anti-racist groups are organizing a counter-demonstration. Local authorities, who have been closely monitoring online chatter about the rally, are bracing for possible conflict. Alyssa Pointer / alyssa.pointer@ajc.com

Credit: Alyssa Pointer

Credit: Alyssa Pointer

Counter demonstrators started showing up in downtown Stone Mountain around 8:30.

Zach Benton of Atlanta took up a spot on Main Street with a handwritten sign. He said he heard about the counter demonstration on Twitter and decided to be a part of it to show that racism doesn’t have a place in the city.

”It’s to show they don’t have power here. I want them to know they are not welcome anymore,” he said.

The rally organizers, many of whom come from the militia movement, dispute they are racists. Some say they want to protect their heritage. But others involved in the planning are longtime white supremacist activists and the rally was advertised and encouraged on notorious racist Internet forums.

Atlanta activist Zach Benton holds a sign in downtown Stone Mountain Saturday, May 15, 2020.

Credit: Chris Joyner

Credit: Chris Joyner

8 A.M. ORIGINAL POST:

Several far-right groups, including militias and white supremacists, are planning to rally Saturday at Stone Mountain, and a broad coalition of leftist anti-racist groups are organizing a counter-demonstration. Local authorities, who have been closely monitoring online chatter about the rally, are bracing for possible conflict.

On Friday evening, park officials announced the site will close its gates Saturday rather than allow a confrontation. The city of Stone Mountain, meanwhile, has urged people to stay away from downtown, and suspended MARTA bus service within city limits.

The rally was planned in response to hundreds of members of a Black militia who turned heads July 4 as they marched with assault rifles, shotguns and other firearms, on Stone Mountain and its famous Confederate memorial.

This is the second time the park has closed ahead of a planned political demonstration. The park closed last year on the Saturday before Atlanta hosted Super Bowl LIII to head off demonstrations around a planned white supremacist rally.

Return here on AJC.com for live updates from Stone Mountain later this morning.Return to AJC.com for updates.