Black Lives Matter supporters gathered at the Huntington Beach Pier Sunday morning, April 11 to protest an upcoming “white lives matter” demonstration that was promoted in leaflets touting the Ku Klux Klan.

“We are united in Huntington Beach against racism and hate,” Tory Johnson, BLM Huntington Beach chapter founder, said on Facebook. “White supremacy is not welcome here and we will do everything possible to prevent this rally and defend our community from racist terrorism.”

The “white lives matter” rally was scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Its mission statement, according to posts on Telegram: “To revive the White Racial Consciousness and to unify White People against white hate. A show of support for White victims of interracial crime.”

The BLM rally began at 11 a.m., with around 100 protesters holding signs and shouting through loudspeakers before a line of Huntington Beach police officers at the city’s iconic pier.

Police quickly made multiple arrests.

A man with a backpack and a tactical vest who was shouting obscenities was quickly taken into custody by police.  A law enforcement spokesman said the man was carrying a baton. Two other protesters in the crowd were also arrested, taken into custody for broadcasting through loudspeakers.

The weekly crowd of beach visitors mingled with the protesters, as officers and deputies moved through the area around Main Street in vehicles and on horseback.

Andy Lewandowski, 60, of Anaheim, wearing a Black Lives Matter cap, said he and his fellow demonstrators were there to “keep the community safe.” Other Huntington Beach rallies he attended turned violent, Lewandowski said.

“We just came down here to protect people,” Lewandowski said.

The demonstrators brought with them a variety of handwritten signs, including ones saying “No H8 in HB,” “White Silence is Violence,” and “Uproot Fascism Before It Grows.”

“What do we want? Unity!” the protesters chanted at points. “When do we want it? Now!”

According to the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism, a new Telegram channel emerged on March 25 “agitating for nationwide ‘white lives matter’ marches and events to be held on April 11.”

Emily Kaufman, an investigative researcher with ADL, said that call to action grabbed attention with messaging that supports white grievance, or the idea that White people are victimized or marginalized, which is often the basis of white supremacist rhetoric, she said.

And Ku Klux Klan propaganda promoting the rally showed up on lawns in Huntington Beach on Easter Sunday, a week after similar flyers appeared in Newport Beach. The leaflets featured Confederate flags and urged “loyal white knights” to “say no to cultural genocide.”

Huntington Beach Mayor Kim Carr said she was flooded with emails from residents who were offended by the leaflets and their “hate speech.”

Coinciding with the “white lives matter” protest, the city and Orange County Human Relations said they would co-sponsor an online discussion about diversity Sunday afternoon.

The ADL says the phrase “white lives matter” originated in early 2015 as a racist response to the Black Lives Matter movement, which emerged in response to police brutality against Black people.

Kaufman said ADL does not consider “white lives matter” an organized group, though the Southern Poverty Law Center has categorized it as a “hate group.”

Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino, also said “white lives matter” appears to be a phrase rather than the name of a specific group.

“That’s not to say there is no cell of individuals or a small group that decided to form a little group by that name,” he said. “We just don’t know. These types of catchphrases and bumper sticker slogans are typically used by a broader sub-culture rather than an organized group.”

Huntington Beach has attracted groups and individuals promoting white supremacy in the past. In the 1990s, it was relatively common to spot skinheads with Nazi tattoos.

The city also has a history of rallies turning violent. In March 2017, a rally in support of then-President Trump turned into a violent brawl between supporters of the president and counter-protesters.

Last May at the pier, as demonstrators protested the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, tensions mounted while those supporting Black Lives Matter and counter-demonstrators shouted at one another and a few fistfights broke out. Huntington Beach police fired pepper balls at those who would not disperse after an unlawful assembly was declared.

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