KANSAS CITY, MO. — Dozens of white supremacists unloaded out U-Haul trucks and descended upon Kansas City on Saturday, prompting community members to question why the local police department seemingly was not present during the demonstration.
The white supremacists, known as Patriot Front, marched from the Liberty Memorial through downtown, chanting and waving the confederate flag, and upside-down U.S. flags, as well as flags adorned with their organization’s logo.
A spokesperson for U-Haul told local news station KMBC the individuals who rented the trucks for the rally have been banned from renting their vehicles in the future. It is unclear how U-Haul can enforce the ban on future rentals from other people associated with the group.
Wearing baseball hats, white masks, navy blue shirts and tan pants, police estimated the group to be about 150 people, some carrying shields as they marched in unison without disruption.
Many in the local community took to social media, accusing the Kansas City Police Department (KCPD) of “escorting” and protecting the white supremacists as they marched. Police officials and city leaders refuted the accusations, and said they had no advanced notice the group would show up that day.
On Saturday, a KCPD spokesperson told local media that police believed the white supremacists who showed up were not from Kansas City, and added that the group did not need a parade permit for the event.
On Tuesday at the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners’ meeting, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said he stands against hate, and defended KCPD’s response to the demonstration on Saturday.
“Individuals have the right to come to our city and say just about anything under the sun, and what this department will do is make sure that everyone in our community is safe,” Lucas said, per The Kansas City Star. “There was no escorting by KCPD. There was no prior planning. I didn’t know about it. The police chief didn’t know about it coming. None of us knew about it coming.”
BLKNewsNow.com will follow up on this story.
