KKK plans protest of Syrian refugees in Texas

An East Texas chapter of the KKK plans a protest against resettlement of Syrian refugees in Texas. An East Texas chapter of the KKK plans a protest against resettlement of Syrian refugees in Texas. Photo: Houston Chronicle Photo: Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 57 Caption Close KKK plans protest of Syrian refugees in Texas 1 / 57 Back to Gallery

An East Texas branch of the Ku Klux Klan plans a public demonstration in a Dallas suburb against resettlement of Syrian refugees in the Lone Star State.

According to the website of the Texas Rebel Knights, a KKK chapter based in Quilan, Texas, the "mosque rally" has been rescheduled from February to May 2016 in Irving.

Irving, the Dallas Morning News reported Wednesday, has become an unlikely hotbed for tensions with American Muslims. It's where virtual alarms sounded for the alleged founding of an extra-constitutional Islamic law court in the summer (which PolitiFact Texas found was false).

It's mere miles from the convention center where an East Coast-based anti-Islam group hosted a contest for drawings of the prophet Muhammad, which was attacked by religiously-inspired gunmen who drove from Arizona.

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It's also where Ahmed Mohamed, Texas' famed "clock boy," was arrested when his high school teacher suspected his science project could be a bomb, prompting widespread allegations of Islamophobia.

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And through it all, the town of 230,000 has seen more than its fair share of demonstrations and counter-demonstrations, culminating in late November with over a dozen demonstrators, clad in military garb and wielding long rifles outside an Islamic center. They were protesting plans to admit Syrian refugees in Texas, according to news reports.

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But the Klan protest seems to have raised additional alarm. A Facebook event with hundreds of expected attendees declared a counter protest.

The Klan is often associated with racism and lynchings of racial minorities around the turn of the 20th Century.

"We are the largest and fastest growing organization that is Pro-White, Pro-Christian and Racial Independence here in the Southern States," says the website TexasKKK.com, which apparently represents Klan chapters across the state. "We seek membership only to [sic] those individuals who display the qualities of loyalty, dedication and the unselfish desire to secure the existence of our race and a future for white children here in America."

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The Quinlin chapter, which did not immediately responded to phone calls and emails Thursday morning, is also holding a toy and food drive for needy families, according to its website and voice answering machine.

According to the website, the rally in Irving was rescheduled for lack of a suitable protest location, which the Morning News reported Klan members had been in Irving to scout in November.