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Klan says it won't march on Derby Day
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- The Ku Klux Klan said Tuesday that it won't march in Louisville on Derby Day.
Klan spokesman James D. Kennedy said the group voted unanimously to postpone the march because of the number of people expected in town for the Derby.
"We got a number of calls from people I respect asking us not to march on that day," Kennedy said. "They said there would be too many people in town."
The Klan had sought a permit to march from Churchill Downs to the University of Louisville on May 1 because some of its members objected to a diversity program at the University of Louisville.
<b
r>Th
e city had not ruled on the permit, said Jay Blanton, a spokesman for Mayor Jerry Abra
mson. "We were waiting to hear what they decided," Blanton said.
Blanton was unsure Tuesday morning whether the permit request had been officially withdrawn.
Kennedy said "four or five state senators" as well as state representatives called and asked the group not to march on Derby Day.
"They asked me to march any day but Derby Day because with all the national media here, they think it will make the city look bad," Kennedy said.
Kennedy said the march will be rescheduled, although he wasn't sure when.
Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Klan says it won't march on Derby Day
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- The Ku Klux Klan said Tuesday that it won't march in Louisville on Derby Day.
Klan spokesman James D. Kennedy said the group voted unanimously to postpone the march because of the number of people expected in town for the Derby.
"We got a number of calls from people I respect asking us not to march on that day," Kennedy said. "They said there would be too many people in town."
The Klan had sought a permit to march from Churchill Downs to the University of Louisville on May 1 because some of its members objected to a diversity program at the University of Louisville.
<b
r>Th
e city had not ruled on the permit, said Jay Blanton, a spokesman for Mayor Jerry Abra
mson. "We were waiting to hear what they decided," Blanton said.
Blanton was unsure Tuesday morning whether the permit request had been officially withdrawn.
Kennedy said "four or five state senators" as well as state representatives called and asked the group not to march on Derby Day.
"They asked me to march any day but Derby Day because with all the national media here, they think it will make the city look bad," Kennedy said.
Kennedy said the march will be rescheduled, although he wasn't sure when.
Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved.