ROCCO CASTORO: The next morning, it appeared that the
church goers prayers had been answered.
A steady trickle of rain fell from the gray sky.
The Klan was there, as well as counter-protesters from
various anti-fascist groups from around the country.
JUSTIN SLEDGE: The statue dedicated to him
remained at the park.
And we raise the demand that it should be taken down
immediately.
If there was a statue of Adolf Hitler in central Berlin, it
would come down--
there's no way that's possible.
And this man is a symbol of tyranny, murder and lynching
for the vast majority of this city.
[SHOUTING]
ROCCO CASTORO: There are also several hundred police
officers from Memphis and the surrounding areas dressed in
full riot gear.
It was clear that this time, unlike 1998, the cops weren't
going to let the public, the protesters, or Klan meet--
or even within sight or earshot of each other.
[SHOUTING]
ROCCO CASTORO: I was siphoned into a media pig pen, where
the cops ignored everyone and stood around a lot.
So we're in the press tent here--
can't really get a clear shot.
They're not letting our second photographer in--
total media blackout, which is an
interesting way to do things.
For now, though, it's just a complete wash all around,
literally and figuratively.
NEWSCASTER: Members of the Klan gathered during a steady
rain here in downtown Memphis on the steps of the old
courthouse.
Their protest sparked by a recent renaming of three
Confederate-themed parks.
Their number, though, around 60--
far outnumbered by--
[SHOUTING]
ROCCO CASTORO: So what are we doing here?
JACKSON BAKER: It's a good day for a cold shower.
Let's put it this way, nobody in government here, city or
county, wanted these guys to have a huge
success on their hands.
They're honoring free speech, but they're not necessarily
easing the way toward this particular
kind of free speech.
Whatever statement they want to make is not being made now.
ROCCO CASTORO: Dajuan and the Crips, on the other hand, were
nowhere to be found.
[PHONE RINGING]
DAJUAN: I'm on the way back now.
I'm about five minutes from my house.
ROCCO CASTORO: Five minutes away?
DAJUAN: Yes, sir.
Make that about six.
I'm driving slow in the rain.
ROCCO CASTORO: Rain was always a threat.
Now that it's here--
DAJUAN: I mean, it'd be nice to take a stand, but--
with what they got going, I think we can go with this.
And we can not go to the rally because it's raining.
ROCCO CASTORO: And so you're not going to go?
DAJUAN: No, I'm not going.
Like, my mother she was telling me that she had a bad
feeling about it.
And it was just staying on her.
And then it started raining, so if it rains, I guess it
wasn't meant for me to go down there.
And I'm sure that if I don't go down there, nobody's going
to get hurt, hopefully,
ROCCO CASTORO: And if it stops raining, will you go?
DAJUAN: Yes.
I'm pretty sure they weren't sitting around for me either.
[LAUGHTER]
ROCCO CASTORO: Memphis kind of shuts down when it rains, huh?
DAJUAN: Yeah.
ROCCO CASTORO: Well, good luck.
DAJUAN: Same to you.
ROCCO CASTORO: Stay safe.
DAJUAN: Thank you guys for coming down here.
D-U-I.
ROCCO
CASTORO: D-U-I. [HONKING]
ROCCO CASTORO: After the rally, we traveled back to
Mississippi to the Imperial Wizard's house.
He had scheduled a cross illumination ceremony,
inviting all the rally's attendees, including skinheads
and other white supremacists who had attended the event.
STEVEN HOWARD: Mississippi--
Ku Klux Klan is like fried chicken in Mississippi.
It just goes hand in hand, You've got fried chicken, and
you got the Ku Klux Klan.
Red is really not written-- in the United Klans of America,
red used to be like a title.
My last rank before becoming Imperial
Wizard was a grand dragon.
Well, I had changed robes so many times, I decided just to
keep the red.
It's kind of like my trademark, man.
Everybody knows me by it.
I go to a rally, and people be like, hey,
that's him right there.
ROCCO CASTORO: And how does it work though, with like-- how
do you get-- how do you move up through the ranks?
STEVEN HOWARD: Just work-- hard work, and
having a heart for it.
Not everybody has a heart for it.
There's a lot-- the people that's out here tonight, they
drove for miles and miles, they have a heart for it.
ROCCO CASTORO: Where are you from?
Where did you come in from today?
KLANSMAN: Baltimore, Maryland.
ROCCO CASTORO: How did you become involved with Loyal
White Knights?
KLANSMAN: A couple months ago my wife
got fired from Walmart.
I believed it to be a racial discrimination case, so I
googled white right lawyers.
And there you'll come up empty handed, nothing exists.
All I could find was the Ku Klux Klan
STEVEN HOWARD: Do we hate black people?
No, we don't hate black people.
Do we hate homosexuals?
No, we're against the sin.
We're against race mixing, in a way.
It's not-- we're not against people.
We just want to save people, that's all that it is.
We have a right to believe the way we want to, just like they
have a right to believe the way they want to.
Klansmen, do you accept the light?
KLANSMAN: Klansmen, I accept the light.
KLANSMAN: We had two rallies, back to back.
Different groups, but I mean the presence
is definitely here.
I mean, I think a lot of people are starting to
realize, uh oh, they're coming back.
ROCCO CASTORO: Was this one of the larger turnouts you had
for one of these illuminations?
STEVEN HOWARD: It's one of the larger ones.
I've been to bigger ones, but this was pretty big.
From different types of groups-- you have not just
Klansmen here tonight.
ROCCO CASTORO: And were you happy with today's proceedings
at the rally?
STEVEN HOWARD: I'm very happy with the way everything went.
I did that all for that man, that was for
Nathan Bedford Forrest.
Klansmen, [INAUDIBLE].
Klansmen, [INAUDIBLE]!
KLANSMEN: [SHOUTING].
STEVEN HOWARD: Klansmen, Mississippi.
KLANSMEN: Mississippi.
STEVEN HOWARD: For Nathan Bedford Forrest.
KLANSMEN: For Nathan Bedford Forrest.
STEVEN HOWARD: Klansmen, for the Ku Klux Klan.
KLANSMEN: For the Ku Klux Klan.
STEVEN HOWARD: Klansmen, approach the cross.
ROCCO CASTORO: Where do you see things going for the Klan
in the next 10 years?
STEVEN HOWARD: Nothing but growth, I believe that when
Barack Obama was first elected to office, I believe people
was like, I don't know what's going to happen here.
I'm going to wait and see.
Now people are really upset about it--
especially whites, I believe, we're really fed up
and tired of it.
Klansmen, salute the cross!
KLANSMAN: I just want to thank everybody for coming down and
supporting us in Memphis.
I really appreciate it.
I live in Memphis.
I deal with them niggers every day.
Thank y'all.
STEVEN HOWARD: White power.
KLANSMEN: White power!
STEVEN HOWARD: White power.
KLANSMEN: White power!
White power!
KLANSMAN: And pray that today made a
difference in our lives.
And Nathan Bedford Forrest-- his name will still stand.
KLANSMEN: White power.
White power!
[MUSIC- BANJO- "BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC"]