- The Washington Times - Thursday, April 19, 2018

Hundreds of local, state and federal law enforcement officials are expected to be on hand Saturday in Newnan, Georgia, a city of nearly 40,000 people south of Atlanta, in anticipation of potentially violent clashes erupting at a rally being organized by the National Socialist Movement, an American neo-Nazi group.

As many as 400 public safety personnel will be Newnan on the day of the rally, said Hasco W. Craver IV, Newnan’s assistant city manager, The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported.

The National Socialist Movement told the city the group expects the event will draw between 50 and 100 attendees, but their rally is also likely to attract an unknown number of counterprotesters, opening the door for potential violence breaking out between sides like during the deadly “Unite the Right” demonstration held last August in Charlottesville, Virginia.

About 50,000 people have signed an online petition urging Newnan against allowing the rally, but city officials determined that the event was protected by the First Amendment and gave the group a permit.

“We don’t condone this at all, and we’d rather them not be here, but the city felt there was no choice,” Mayor Keith Brady told the Newnan Times-Herald earlier this month. “That’s what the law says. It’s distasteful for this to happen, but it’s their right to make the statement they wish to make.”

Situated about 40 miles southwest of Atlanta, Newnan is the seat of Coweta County and boasts a population of over 37,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

“We pick these rallies randomly,” said Burt Colucci, the chief of staff for the National Socialist Movement. “It is always preferable that it is in a white town. We just gonna go there and do everything that we legally can. Everybody has a First Amendment right. We want to get our voice heard,” he told the Journal-Constitution.

All five members of the Coweta County Legislative Delegation have publicly denounced the rally, a local CBS affiliate reported Friday.

“I share the dismay of my fellow Newnanites that we are the city the National Socialist Movement has chosen for their demonstration. I plan to shun them and unite with our local elected officials, our public safety personnel, our faith based community, and our good citizens to celebrate what makes Newnan such a special place to call home. We are a city anchored by our faith, hope and charity,” said state Rep. Lynn Smith, Republican.

“The racist, xenophobic views of the neo-nazi organization the National Socialist Movement are vile, vulgar, and venomous. I absolutely condemn their racist hate speech and their efforts to broadcast their poisonous ideology from Newnan,” added state Rep. Bob Trammell, Democrat.

Formed in 1974, the National Socialist Movement is one of the largest neo-Nazigroups in the U.S. and considered part of the Nationalist Front, a loose coalition of related organizations forged in 2016 by NSM leader Jeff Schoep and Matthew Heimbach, the founder of a similar group, the Traditionalist Workers Party.

Both Mr. Schoep and Mr. Heimback participated in the “Unite the Right” rally, according to litigation brought against them by plaintiffs including the city of Charlottesville. The rally had been billed as a demonstration held in support of a Confederate statue slated to be removed from a park in downtown Charlottesville, but the event infamously turned chaotic when clashes broke out between participants and counterprotesters. Two Virginia state troopers and a counterprotester, paralegal Heather Heyer, died in connection with the event, according to police.

Police are erecting barriers and restricting road traffic in Newnan this weekend to avoid clashes, local media reported.

• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.

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