'Confederate Memorial Day' to take place Saturday in Graham

Two opposing activist groups plan to come head-to-head Saturday during a Confederate heritage event set for Graham’s Court Square.

The event, called “Confederate Memorial Day Celebration,” is being held by Alamance County Taking Back Alamance County at noon at the county’s Historic Courthouse, outside of which a Confederate soldier statue stands.

On a Facebook page for the event, ACTBAC organizers encouraged participants to wear Confederate uniforms and bring muskets.

At least one opposition group — the Triangle Industrial Workers of the World — have announced a formal counter-demonstration to the ACTBAC event, a rally they’ve dubbed “Stop white supremacy in Alamance County.”

Triangle IWW previously rallied against the Alamance County-based “Southern rights” preservation organization during an ACTBAC event outside Burlington’s municipal building in November.

Local IWW members, according to the Triangle IWW’s Facebook event for Saturday, take credit for securing ACTBAC’s designation as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center earlier this year, which declared ACTBAC a “neo-Confederate” organization.

ACTBAC founder Gary Williamson denies the accuracy of such a label, telling the Times-News in February that his organization “has no reason to be on there,” referring to the SPLC’s list of hate groups.

“We have decided to organize, because members of the community have reached out and said this is not the kind of organization they want in their community,” said Caleb Burroughs, a Triangle IWW member who grew up in Snow Camp. “We’re just going to be out there rallying with the community to let ACTBAC know they are not welcome in Burlington or Alamance County or this community, and their values aren’t the community’s.”

Burroughs said Triangle IWW is encouraging other non-members to join the group in protesting ACTBAC.

Their activities, Burroughs said, would likely include “drowning out the noise” and “not letting them get to the courthouse.”

“The plan is to have enough community support and go out there and not even give them a platform to spread their hate,” Burroughs said.

As for how Triangle IWW planned to prevent ACTBAC from reaching the courthouse, where it has a city permit to demonstrate Saturday afternoon, Burroughs said the group may form “human barriers.”

“No one is going to be forceful about it,” Burroughs said. “It’s just denying them their time to speak.”

ACTBAC has instituted a policy of not talking with news media, warning participants at the rally Saturday not to do so, either, according to social media posts the group made Wednesday on the Facebook event page.

THE GRAHAM POLICE Department, in the meantime, is gearing up for the clash of the opposing groups.

“We’re trying to take as many precautionary measures as we can,” said Chief Jeff Prichard, after learning more this week about both groups’ announced plans for the event.

He said nearly all the department’s officers who aren’t working night shift will be in the area for the gathering in light of new developments this week concerning the event and counter-protest.

Williamson obtained a permit from the Graham Police Department on April 26 for the event, which is scheduled to take place from noon to 3 p.m. and involve “speakers, signs and flags,” according to the form.

The permit states the group celebrating Confederate Memorial Day, estimated to be a gathering of 100 people, is not to exceed 200 participants.

Prichard said on Wednesday that he had denied earlier that day a permit from an unspecified group seeking to hold a counter-demonstration to ACTBAC’s event.

He said he made the decision to deny the other group’s request based on a city ordinance regarding groups that would assemble only to cause a scene or serve as a distraction.

“We have good reason to believe, through some investigation that we’ve done, that their intentions are to disrupt (ACTBAC’s event),” Prichard said. “That’s their sole purpose of being there.”

On ACTBAC’s Facebook event page for Saturday, the organization claimed that IWW, whom ACTBAC members refer to as “Antifa,” or an antifascist group, would “be charged with trespassing” if they went on the premises of the courthouse.

Prichard clarified that police officers alone would make the decision on who is arrested, if anyone is, and on what charges.

“It will be up to the police officers on the street,” Prichard said. “If we need to take action, we certainly will.”

Prichard said though the department will attempt to avoid making arrests, charges could include disorderly conduct, trespassing or an ordinance violation of unlawful gathering.

“Our ideal situation is everyone acts peaceably and it goes off without any hitches,” Prichard said. “I’m hoping for the best, and we’re preparing for the worst.”