A Ku Klux Klan rally in Anaheim, Calif., to protest "illegal immigration and Muslims" saw three people stabbed and 13 arrested on Feb. 27.
According to local police officials, some members of the Klan had announced that they would be holding a rally at Pearson Park at 1:30 p.m. Protestors thronged the venue by 11 a.m. Around noon, a black SUV drove up with about six people on board. The fights broke out the moment the KKK members stepped out of their vehicle.
"All hell broke loose. I thought they were going to stomp these Klansmen to death," said witness Brian Levin, director of California State University, San Bernardino's Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, according to the Associated Press.
"There were no police officers here when this started happening. It was the longest few minutes between when the SUV was attacked and when the police responded in droves. I think the police response saved their lives. They would have been torn limb from limb," Levin added, according to the Los Angeles Times.
"As soon as they got out of their vehicle, immediately they were attacked by counter-protesters and this caused a melee down the block," said Daron Wyatt, Anaheim Police Sergeant, according to Reuters.
The Klan members tried to defend themselves as best as they could.
"They started pulling out weapons. One of them had the flag, the American flag, with the pointed top and I think that's what got my friend. It's a serious wound. It wasn't like the blood was dripping out. It gushed out of him," said Martin Buenorostro, whose friend, identified as "FuzzBuzz," was wounded when one of the Klan members used a flagpole to push away members of the crowd, reports the Los Angeles Times.
Six Klan members and seven protesters were arrested, according to Wyatt, reports the Los Angeles Times.
The Klan has recently been in the news with one-time grand wizard David Duke endorsing Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump, as previously reported by HNGN.
