Dayton estimates Ohio Klan rally cost $650,000 for security

Associated Press
Sunday, May 26, 2019 8:24 p.m. | Sunday, May 26, 2019 8:24 p.m.

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Counter-protesters wave flags and signs as they counter-protest a rally held by the KKK affiliated group Honorable Sacred Knights of Indiana at Courthouse Square on May 25, 2019 in Dayton, Ohio. Around 1,000 counter demonstrators came to protest the Indiana based white supremacist group of whom there were less than a dozen.

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A counter-demonstrator reaches for a sign while protesting a small group from the KKK-affiliated Honorable Sacred Knights who gathered for a rally in Dayton, Ohio, May 25, 2019. According to police, the small group of 9 Honorable Sacred Knights were met by an estimated 500-600 counter-protesters. Police units from the Ohio state cities of Columbus, Cleveland, Toledo, and Cincinnati were called in for backup in case of violence.

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A mounted Police Unit from Columbus, Ohio leaves after a small group from the KKK-affiliated Honorable Sacred Knights held a rally in Dayton, Ohio, May 25, 2019. According to police, the small group of 9 Honorable Sacred Knights were met by an estimated 500-600 counter-protesters. Police units from the Ohio state cities of Columbus, Cleveland, Toledo, and Cincinnati were called in for backup in case of violence.

DAYTON, Ohio — An Ohio city is estimating it spent about $650,000 on security for a rally attended by a small group of Ku Klux Klan members and hundreds of protesters.

Dayton City Manager Shelley Dickstein says the city spent about $250,000 on personnel and about $400,000 on materials ahead of the rally on Saturday.

Dickstein tells the Dayton Daily News there’s no way to recapture the spent funds but notes that safety measures were needed because “the world has changed greatly.”

Nine people showed up for a KKK rally in Dayton, Ohio. They were drowned out by 600 protestors https://t.co/5RbD961nt9 pic.twitter.com/EIgjqkngNU

— TIME (@TIME) May 26, 2019

There were no reported clashes or problems at the downtown rally. The city blocked streets with large trucks and brought in officers from other jurisdictions to keep protesters separated from members of an obscure Klan group called the Honorable Sacred Knights.

Thousands of people have gathered in downtown Dayton, Ohio, to protest a rally held by a Ku Klux Klan-affiliated group from Indiana. https://t.co/nzJRCK1dnX

— Twitter Moments (@TwitterMoments) May 25, 2019