A group that intended to hold its second event to protest "efforts of the extreme left and Communists to remove the history and monuments of the American people" has been denied access to the park that's at the center of its own debate.
The organizers of "Rock Stone Mountain" were notified Nov. 7 that their application to hold an event at Stone Mountain Park on Feb. 2, 2019 - the same day as the Super Bowl in Atlanta - was denied.
According to the Stone Mountain Memorial Association, the rejection was due to a lack of the needed security for an event they said brought violence in the past.
"Based on the previous violent event held by your organization on April 23, 2016, as well as your acknowledgment of potential violence in the permit application comments, the Stone Mountain Park Department of Public Safety does not have the available resources to protect not only the members of your organization but the Park employees and the public," the association wrote in a letter to organizers.
However, in their application, the group behind the event claimed they were not the cause of the violence.
"We seek to avoid violence and contact with the lawless mob for the sake of the women and children that will be in attendance," the organizers wrote on a separate sheet from the main application. "As you known from our past event, we are not the problem."
The main event page for the gathering, though, includes posts that call into question the peaceful nature of the event - one of Confederate soldiers with guns raised and the text "AIMING FOR ANTIFA ON FEBRUARY 2ND."
Before the permit was ever granted, the group had already posted that it wanted to hold its event beginning at 3 p.m. at the park.
However, they requested that it actually start at 1 p.m. and end at 4 p.m. - a change that they requested not be released until the day of the event "in order to avoid lawless attempts to block traffic by Antifa and other groups."
Despite strong words for groups such as the NAACP and the "far left," the event was described as "non-partisan citizens exercising our Constitutional rights" by the organizers. Further reading of a blog post pinned to the top of the original event in 2016 also reveals accusations against minorities "literally attempting the genocide and murder of the White Race."
"The attempt at racial genocide against our White race is very real, and Rock Stone Mountain is a clarion call from the mountaintop to rally against those that seek our destruction," the group's mission statement reads.
PHOTOS: Groups hold opposing protests at Stone Mountain
In the rejection letter, Stone Mountain Memorial Association said that the event would not be permitted in accordance with Ordinance 5-102E. 7 and 8 which state that "no public assembly event shall be conducted when it would materially disrupt Stone Mountain Park and presents a clear and present danger to the public health or safety."
Back in 2016, when the first "Rock Stone Mountain" event was held, police made provisions early on to keep that group and counterprotesters separate. However, efforts to do so quickly deteriorated only hours into the events.
A total of nine people, all part of a counter-protest group known as "All Out Atlanta" were arrested before noon that day.
Most of those arrests were for wearing a mask or hood to conceal their identity. However, one arrest involved aggravated.
