Supremacists, protesters clash

Associated Press

YORK, Pa. – Witnesses reported minor confrontations in the streets on Saturday as police kept hundreds of demonstrators at bay during a rally by white supremacists in a city still feeling the effects of deadly race riots that occurred more than 30 years ago.

Matthew Hale, leader of the white supremacist group World Church of the Creator, spoke to about 70 supporters inside a library while police officers in riot gear, some on horseback, separated shouting groups of his supporters and anti-racist protesters.

“We seek the advancement of white people, our people, without any apologies, any compromise, any groveling before anybody,” Hale told supporters and spectators inside the library.

Marion Kinard, 31, of York, said he attended the speech with his two sons, 4 and 6, to teach them about racism.

“I want my children to know that they’re teaching it to their children,” said Kinard, who is black.

Witnesses reported seeing car windows broken and minor confrontations in the streets throughout the afternoon. Witnesses reported a clash between the two sides before Hale arrived, although police did not confirm it.

State, city and federal authorities provided security, including blocking off several streets around the library where Hale made his speech. They also frisked people in the crowd for weapons.

Police said 25 people were arrested, mostly for disorderly conduct, and several guns were confiscated.

York was the scene of riots in July 1969 after a black teen-ager was wounded by a white man. A police officer was killed on the second night of the violence as he rode in an armored car. Four days later, a black woman was slain by shots fired from a white mob as she and her family drove to a grocery store.

Hale has said he picked York, a racially mixed town of 41,000 in central Pennsylvania, for his appearance because of its high profile in race relations and because Pennsylvania has been a hotbed of racial division.