League of the South Calls for Backup at Confederate Protest
The neo-Confederate League of the South (LOS) has summoned members to Pittsboro, North Carolina, on Saturday to protest the removal of a Confederate statue.
Shaun Winkler, the league鈥檚 Mississippi state chairman, used a Facebook post this week to direct members to show up in the league鈥檚 uniform 鈥� khaki cargo pants, black combat boots and black polo shirts 鈥� and be ready to fight for 鈥�our beloved Dixie鈥� and 鈥�defend our heritage.鈥�
, small groups have gathered each Saturday in Pittsboro to protest an order from the Chatham County Board of Commissioners in August to remove a statue in front of the county courthouse that .
Commissioners told a United Daughters of the Confederacy chapter, which donated the monument in 1907, to remove the statue by Oct. 1 or the county would take it down. But the statue remains.听
Chatham County Sheriff's Office spokesman Rik Stevens said听local law enforcement was aware of Saturday's rally.听鈥�We hope that there鈥檚 no violence, but at this point we don鈥檛 know exactly what is going to happen,鈥�听Stevens said. 鈥�We鈥檙e going to do our best to protect public safety.鈥澨�
The Pittsboro police didn't return calls or emails seeking comment about their preparations for crowd management and peacekeeping. The Chatham County town of听听is more than 30 miles west of Raleigh.听
Winkler鈥檚 Facebook post says members will travel from Panama City, Florida 鈥� some 660 miles away 鈥� and be in Pittsboro on Saturday morning. 鈥�We need strong men and women to be present to defend our heritage yet once again against the communist scum,鈥� he said. Winkler鈥檚 message claims 鈥�antifa鈥� activists will head to Pittsboro to pull down the statue.
This weekend鈥檚 protest comes against the backdrop of strife over the statue's removal that has attracted pro-Confederate groups from across the South. These include:
- The Virginia Flaggers听who, after the Chatham commissioners鈥� statue decision, erected a Confederate flag across the street from a Pittsboro middle school named after a North Carolina slave. The Flaggers joined a number of organizations that protested retailers and county and state governments removing Confederate emblems and merchandise after Dylann Roof killed nine African American church members in South Carolina in 2015.
听 - ACTBAC North Carolina, a pro-Confederate group the Southern Poverty Law Center listed as a hate group in 2016 and 2017, took credit with the Virginia group for raising the Confederate flag across from the middle school. The group has been a fixture at the Pittsboro demonstrations听and has erected three Confederate banners in the area with the Virginia Flaggers.
听 - The neo-Confederate Hiwaymen have been in Pittsboro nearly every weekend since Sept. 14, its leader said in a Facebook post.
The Hiwaymen have, on social media, thrown their support behind a protest this weekend. Billy Sessions, the leader of the Arkansas-based Hiwaymen, shared a Facebook video decrying Chatham County's decision to听remove the statue. 鈥�No, we鈥檙e not having that shit. You know we鈥檝e had Hiwaymen up there and Lady Hiwaymen up there in Pittsboro damn near every weekend. Do you know how many of the community of North Carolina comes out and stands with our guys? Not a whole lot.鈥�
These groups have squared off against counterprotesters, resulting in arrests on both sides. Jessica Reavis, a prominent League of the South member, 听and charged with carrying a concealed gun and carrying a concealed weapon, 听reported.听
听Pro-Confederate heritage groups deny any racist leanings and insist they are standing up for their Confederate heritage. But the LOS听has criticized the 鈥�browning of America鈥� and claims 鈥�powerful Jews鈥� seeks to weaken whites.
These rallies can draw members of overtly white nationalist groups, which see altercations around racist symbols such as Confederate statues as the perfect milieu to spread their ideology of white racial grievance and ethnonationalism. Demonstrating the viability of Confederate protests as a recruitment tool, a Twitter account linked to Reavis tweeted,听鈥�Alliances were made,鈥� about the Oct. 5 Pittsboro demonstration that led to听her arrest.
Rachel Janik contributed to this report.
Photo by Daniel Hosterman
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