In a series of recent blog posts, a Memphis resident highlights plans for rallies on Saturday to protest what he calls the “illegal” removal of the Nathan Bedford Forrest and Jefferson Davis statues from the city.
“On Saturday, January 6, in Memphis, there will be a true manifestation, a very real showing forth. And we’re not coming for your cookies,” one of the blogs written by former middle school teacher, Billy Roper read.
Roper says one protest, scheduled for Health Sciences Park at noon, is organized by a number of different organizations, from “pro-Confederate heritage advocates to the hard right” and that “all White Nationalists and Alt Right are invited to stand together.”
Some of the organizing groups include Southern Individualist, the Highwaymen, Freedom Crew, Carolina Defenders, and Confederate 901.
Poster for the pro-Forrest rally posted to Roper’s blog
However, Roper adds that the organizers are “much less cucked and degenerate big tent overall than ones which were involved in planning and organizing of past events, such as Charlottesville.”
As some pro-Confederate rallygoers make their way to Health Sciences Park on Saturday, others will gather at the welcome center and Tom Lee Park on Riverside for the same purpose.
These protests, spearheaded by the Facebook group, Confederate 901, Roper says are where “hundreds of like minded Confederate patriots” will “take a stand for heritage, history, culture, and people.”
In another blog titled “Where the Anti-Whites Will be Saturday,” Roper mentions the activist group Resist Memphis who is planning to hold a counter “Resist the Racists” rally also on Saturday at the visitors center.
In the post, Roper points out that under state law, it would be legal for members of the Confederate 901 motorcade to have a loaded firearm in their vehicles, even without a state-issued handgun carry license.
On the Resist the Racists official Facebook page, organizer, Charles Belenky points out that the intent of the counterprotest “is to bear witness, not provoke a confrontation.”
On Monday, Memphis mayor Jim Strickland said the city is prepared for whatever transpires on Saturday.
In previous blog posts, Roper has referred to the mayor as “anti-white,” and called for his and the Memphis City Council’s prosecution as a result of their actions to remove the Confederate statues.
