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The United Dixie White Knights of Mississippi contacted the city of Laurel to express its interest in holding a rally at the Jones County Courthouse this summer.
The group is listed as an active chapter of the Ku Klux Klan by the Southern Poverty Law Center and is registered with the Mississippi Secretary of State's Office, with Brent Waller listed as the registered agent.
The city of Laurel's Special Events Coordinator Lauren Stewart said the group e-mailed the city asking for a special events permit to hold a rally where they would also sell some items.
"The City of Laurel is not sure if we can permit them on the premises of the county because they're actually wanting to host it at a county building in the city limits," Stewart explained.
In the email, Waller identified himself as the "elected Imperial Wizard of the United Dixie White Knights LLC, Realm of Mississippi."
Waller stated that the rally will be "in regards to current Federal Court cases that are attempting to circumvent Mississippi's Constitution in regards to Gay Marriage, and illegal Federal intervention into our States right to enforce Illegal Immigration laws."
In February, the Mississippi group issued a "call to arms in Alabama" in response to the federal court ruling that an amendment to the state constitution banning same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. The post on the group's website praised Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore, who ordered the state's probate judges to defy the ruling on the day same-sex marriages were expected to begin in Alabama.
Stewart said the group had not picked up a permit application as of Thursday.
An e-mail to the Leakesville-based group was not immediately returned.
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Brandiilyne Dear of The Dandelion Project, an LGBTQ support group based in Laurel, said she started organizing a counter-protest when she first heard of the possible rally. Dear said the group is waiting to see what date the group chooses to hold the rally so it can host its own. "We are very hopeful we'll have a Supreme Court decision by that time so we'll be able to perform same-sex marriages that day as part of the protest as well as heterosexual marriages," she explained. She said area ministers will also be at the event to bless any families who wish to participate.
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"Love is louder than hate," Dear said, noting even if the group decides not to hold the rally, The Dandelion Project will still hold its own. According to the website for the United Dixie White Knights, the group seeks "an end to all illegal immigration, race mixing, the loss of American sovereignty, the fed, IRS and all powers not granted the President in the original constitution ... We only bow to one king and that is Jesus."
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