Confederate group sets Arkansas rally to show support for preserving monuments

HOT SPRINGS -- The Confederate Square Group will hold a demonstration Saturday on Arlington Lawn in Hot Springs National Park to show support for preserving monuments to Confederate history.

Organizer James Brock of Hot Springs said Thursday that he obtained a permit for the demonstration from the National Park Service after attending a rally Saturday in Charlottesville, Va., to protest the removal of a Gen. Robert E. Lee monument.

Violence broke out at the Charlottesville rally when white nationalists clashed with counterprotesters. One person died when a car plowed into a crowd, and the governor declared a state of emergency.

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Brock said the Hot Springs demonstration will focus on the preservation of monuments to Confederate history and will not support neo-Nazism, white supremacy or white nationalism.

The group was given a permit to demonstrate on Arlington Lawn from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, and plans to hold its event from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

It is the third one of its kind to be held on Arlington Lawn in 2017.

State Desk on 08/18/2017

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