JASPER, Texas (AP) — The Ku Klux Klan plans a rally next week in the town of Jasper as it tries to recover from the killing of a black man who was chained to a pickup truck and dragged two miles until his body was torn to pieces.
Three white men are suspects.
The rally outside the county courthouse is scheduled for June 27. No parade permit was necessary, City Attorney Gary Gatlin said.
Authorities expect at least 20 Klansmen to participate in their white hoods and robes.
Gatlin said he was told by organizers that the purpose of the rally is to disavow any connection with three white suspects in the June 7 death of James Byrd Jr.
More than 500 people attended a service Monday to remember Byrd and pray for unity. Byrd, 49, was beaten then chained to the truck by his ankles and dragged to his death along a country road June 7.
The three white suspects are believed to have ties to white supremacist groups. Byrd was apparently targeted because he was black.
Byrd was buried Saturday after a funeral that attracted Jesse Jackson and NAACP President Kweisi Mfume.