In May, the Ku Klux Klan submitted a request to burn a cross at Stone Mountain, a public park in DeKalb County. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that this week the Stone Mountain Memorial Association denied the request. The association, which oversees the park, has a permit application process for public assemblies. In a statement released Wednesday, the association said that "it condemns the beliefs and actions of the Ku Klux Klan and believes the denial of this Public Assembly request is in the best interest of all parties.”
On the application, Dublin resident, Joey Hobbs, asked to burn the cross on Oct. 21, with a crowd of 20 people. His application stated that the KKK wanted to: "Commemorate the cross lighting of William Simmons in November 1915. We will light our cross and 20 minutes later we will be gone."
Hobbs is referring to the 1915 revival of the KKK which occurred with the lighting of a cross on top of Stone Mountain.
As part of the request denial, the Stone Mountain Memorial Association said they wanted to avoid a situation like the one that occurred in 2016 when a white power group and two counter-protests clashed and Stone Mountain had to close for the day.