White nationalist Billy Roper leading a verse of ‘I Wish I Was in Dixie’
Fewer than a dozen protesters rallying against the city’s recent removal of Confederate statues stood near Health Sciences Park sporting a banner that read “diversity = white genocide.”
They were led by self-proclaimed white nationalist, Billy Roper who told reporters that the reason for the protest was to bring attention to the city’s
December sale of Health Sciences and Memphis Park to the recently-formed nonprofit Memphis Greenspace, and then the swift removal of the Confederate statues from the parks that followed.
The goal, he said, is to provoke state legislatures to censure the city administration,
pursuing a lawsuit against what he said were actions done “surreptitiously and under darkness.”
Surrounding the protesters in a barricaded area near Union and Manassas were more than 30 police cars, dozens of officers, along with state reinforcement and city trucks blocking the entrance to the park.
Security screening on Union
Health Sciences Park, as well as Memphis Park were closed to the public on Saturday, as the city administration and the Memphis Police Department aimed to “keep the peace and ensure the safety of our citizens.”
The protest remained peaceful and no arrests were made.
Meanwhile, a non-associated caravan of close to 50 vehicles decorated with Confederate flags paraded around the I-240 loop, protesting the removal of Nathan Bedford Forrest’s statue and the “desecration” of his grave.
Below Roper speaks on his reasons for the Saturday protest.
White nationalist Billy Roper speaking on his reasons for rallying today. pic.twitter.com/SQDYGy5xzq
— Maya Smith (@mayarolani) January 6, 2018
Pro-Confederate Protests Roll Through the City
