After a rumor circulated that white supremacists were going to rally Friday afternoon in Durham, North Carolina, hundreds of counter-protesters took over the streets instead.
According to ABC 11, city officials didn’t issue any permits for a march during the afternoon, and there was no confirmation of a white supremacist march taking place.
Instead, a tweet sent by attorney T. Greg Doucette appeared to spread on Twitter, and an impromptu counter protest brought hundreds of people near a Confederate monument at Roxboro Street and Main Street.
Doucette said that the rally was planned downtown from noon until about 5 p.m.
For folks in and around #Durham, I’ve been informed most county buildings are closing because of a Nazi+KKK rally at 12pm and 5pm downtown
Durham police caught wind of the rumor and took precautions, closing streets around the area as counter-protesters made their way to the streets. However, Durham Sheriff Mike Andrews said he had received no information confirming the rumor.
“The Durham County Sheriff’s Office has not received verified information confirming a counter protest will occur in Durham at 4 p.m. or 5 p.m. this evening,” Andrews said to ABC 11. “I want to continue urging residents to rely upon verified information to avoid circulating rumors that can put lives at risk.”
Before noon, two large protest groups took to the city and converged near the city’s old courthouse, where a Confederate monument was pulled to the ground earlier in the week after the violence spurred by white nationalists in Charlottesville, Virginia.
https://twitter.com/GaryCooperWTVD/status/898580096935542784Socia
Social media users said there were no signs of white supremacists on the downtown streets, as they were rumored to do.
Come stand. Downtown Durham.
During the Charlottesville rally this past weekend, hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazis gathered to protest a proposal to remove a Robert E. Lee statue from a local park.
The demonstrations turned violent and then deadly as activists clashed with counter-protesters and authorities. One woman was killed and another 19 were injured when a man allegedly drove a car into a large group of people marching down the street. Nineteen others suffered injuries from the incident.
The violence in Charlottesville brought about dozens of protests across the U.S. this past week as people come out in large numbers to call for the removal of Confederate statues in various cities.
Here are some photos and videos from the Durham rally:
https://twitter.com/BronwenDickey/status/898604277576245248
Burning Confederate and KKK flag. #Durham
Riot police in #durham t.co/IxZWWwHly4
Hundreds show up with very short notice to defend their city against Nazi hate. Stay safe, Durham…we are all with you! ✊🏻❤️#DefendDurham
What’s left of the #Durham County #Confederate statue.
Durham PD has been slowly pushing the crowd back @WBTV_News
Here’s what is happening now:drums, chanting, dancing.
https://twitter.com/BlackNewsOutlet/status/898669919457300481
Anti-fascists declare victory. Says they heard KKK turned back. Sending people to Durham co-op for debriefing.
Hundreds still here at old courthouse in Durham. It’s turned into an anti-fascists anti-racism rally. New chant: Where they at though.
Still here. Standing on Roxboro waving how traffic in #Durham.
