Will there be rubber duckies at the Klan picnic? You bet!
The group Traditional Knights of the KKK was denied a permit to use the park after what state officials saw as inaccuracies in literature that the Klan planned to pass out at the event.
Fort Davidson was the site of the Battle of Pilot Knob, an 1864 skirmish that left more than 1,000 Confederate soldiers dead, and until 2003 state officials had allowed a Confederate flag to fly at the site in tribute to the Missouri soldiers who lost their lives there. The KKK wants the flag reinstated.
But according to the Department Department of Natural Resources, the flag depicted in the Klan's literature is a slightly different version of the Stars and Bars that actually flew at Fort Davidson. Thus the denial for the permit.
In a somewhat scathing ruling, judge Rodney Sippel yesterday ruled that the Klan cannot be discriminated against even if it's views are "repugnant."
Per today's Post-Dispatch:
Sippel, citing long-established legal precedent, said officials could not bar the group from a public place just because of the content of its speech or message. He said that even if everything the group says is incorrect, "They do have the right to say it."
The state argued that the Army of Northern Virginia flag (seen here) is different than the Confederate flag that once flew at Fort Davidson.
And what did Klan plan to do at its picnic? Ancona says there would be food and games, including the bean bag game, Cornhole, and the ever popular Duck Pond Game. Oh, and some members would also be wearing robes and hoods, presumably to hide the shame of anyone seeing these fearsome bigots wagering over rubber duckies.
