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Clarksville SDS and community leaders prepare to confront Nazis

By Preston Gilmore

Clarksville, TN – The Clarksville Chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) is gearing up to confront a neo-Nazi conference this weekend at the Montgomery Bell State Park in Dickson County. SDSers are organizing a rally outside of the Montgomery Bell Park Inn and Convention Center at 4 p.m. on April 26. They plan to send a message that Nazi terror and white supremacy will not be tolerated in Dickson County. Speakers at the rally will include representatives from organizations such as the Dream Defenders and One People’s Project, as well as local community and religious leaders.

The white supremacist organization calls itself American Renaissance and its yearly conference draws fascists including the Klan, neo-Nazis, and other white supremacist hate groups to the park. Previous speakers at the American Renaissance conference included David Duke, a former Ku Klux Klan leader and neo-Nazi who inspired and is greatly admired by Frazier Glenn Cross – the killer responsible for the recent brutal slayings in Kansas City. In fact, leaders from the White Patriot Party, which was a Ku Klux Klan faction founded by Frazier Glenn Cross, are among the previous attendees of American Renaissance conferences.

SDS member and native son of Dickson County Sean Collette said, “Nazis have murdered millions. The Klan has lynched and terrorized thousands. Recently, we were all horrified to hear that a white supremacist with ties to American Renaissance murdered several innocent people in Kansas City. It is very clear to us that these white supremacists are a threat to our lives and to the safety of our community. We want to send a message to these terrorists that their presence in Montgomery Bell will not be tolerated. And, we also want to send a message to the world that folks in Dickson County aren’t the type of people to stand idly by in the face of fascism. We are going to confront this issue head on and protect our community.”

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