Free speech is protected, and the Klan can spew their hate at their own risk anytime they want. They can come to Dayton, sit in a bar, and talk trash and see what happens.

However, demanding permission to have a rally on Courthouse Square is sort of like saying that the next Belmont/Dunbar game should be able to be held at the ‘Shoe, just because.

There is no reason for 9 jerks from out-of-town to get to commandeer courthouse square and do what they want. Especially after the last time, when it supposedly cost us $650,000 to “protect” them.

So, the first step to holding an event in the square for people who live in Montgomery County is to gather 100 signatures of registered voters in the county who support their cause. No different than running for office. If you’re from out of the county, the requirements go up to 500.

The next thing is, we have plenty of places you can hold a rally. Island Park is a very nice place, with a bandshell and a stage. After the Klan turns in their petition with 500 signatures of county residents in support, we tell them what the bill will be for protection at the location. Island Park isn’t in the middle of downtown, doesn’t require street closures, and can easily be managed with a lot less police and barricades.

At no point do those services come for free. If they want to speak without police protection, they have to post a bond and a quit-claim for any harm that comes their way. When it comes to open-carry or military dress etc- the state has laws about all militias having to fall under the control of the Governor. Since Island Park is a public park, open carry will not be tolerated by them, or their protesters.

Most states have constitutional language, criminal statutes or both barring unauthorized paramilitary activity. Every state except New York and Georgia has a constitutional provision, akin to Virginia’s, requiring that “in all cases the military should be under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power.” In other words, private armies are proscribed in 48 states. You can’t legally organize with others into battalions to fight those with whom you disagree. As University of Virginia law professor A.E. Dick Howard, who formerly directed the Virginia Commission on Constitutional Revision, has written, this provision “ensures the right of all citizens .?.?. to live free from the fear of an alien soldiery commanded by men who are not responsible to law and the political process”…

In addition to constitutional provisions, 28 states have criminal statutes that prohibit individuals from forming rogue military units and parading or drilling publicly with firearms, while 25 states have criminal statutes that bar two or more people from engaging in “paramilitary” activity, including using firearms or other “techniques” capable of causing injury or death in a civil disorder. A dozen states have statutes that prohibit falsely assuming the functions of law enforcement or wearing without authorization military uniforms or close imitations.

Source: This legal tactic can keep neo-Nazi protests out of your city – The Washington Post

It may be too later to implement the above for the new application to come to courthouse square, but, under no circumstances should 9 people cost us $650,000 again. If they do, it’s because you’ve elected mental midgets. Face it- inmates in Montgomery County Jail aren’t as well protected as these dorks in sheets, warn them, we can’t protect them again this year. And, if they want to come and run their yaps and risk getting beat to hell – we’ll arrest them, put them in jail for fighting- and let them take their chances in the pokey where they can get a second smack down.