Women's March draws more than 14K to downtown Knoxville; about 20 white separatists protest

Matt Lakin
Knoxville
Jacqueline Hill, of Alcoa leads attendees of the Knoxville Women's March in a chant at Krutch park in downtown Knoxville Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018
. The crowd attending the march grew to 10,000 and spanned 10 blocks.

The handful of protesters outside didn't faze Vivian Underwood-Shipe as she faced a crowd of thousands Sunday just before the Knoxville Women's March 2.0 stepped off from Krutch Park.

“There are going to be those who question your age, who question your ability, your influence,” she told the crowd. “You may be told to be quiet, to wait your turn. To that you must remind them, it is my turn!”

Knoxville police estimated the march drew more than 14,000 demonstrators downtown to show their support for women’s rights and the electoral victories women have won nationally and locally during the past year. The march was one of more than 250 such events this weekend, which began last year in response to President Trump's inauguration.

"Last year was very much a reaction to the election, but a year out we've had a lot of successes, even though it's been a really tough year," organizer Kimberly Peterson said.

A counter-demonstration by the white separatist Traditionalist Worker Party drew about 20 people on the opposite side of Market Street. Despite occasional raised voices and angry words, that event ended with no arrests.

And a few blocks away, about 700 people sang, prayed and voiced their opposition to abortion at the March for Life event at the Knoxville Convention Center.

"Any time everybody plays by the rules, everything goes fine," Knoxville Police Department Capt. Don Jones said at the conclusion of the day's events.. "It's always our goal to give everybody the opportunity to give voice to their First Amendment rights."

Pink hats, plaudits and protest signs

Women's March participants began lining up on Market Square as early as noon, with a heavy police presence downtown. The swollen ranks added up to a late start, with marchers not stepping off until 2:30 p.m., about an hour after the planned start time.

The line of marchers stretched about 10 blocks. Signs reading “#RESIST” and “Grab ‘em by the midterms” stood out among the crowd, as did the movement’s easily identifiable pink hats. Some wore "Nasty Woman" T-shirts.

A cardboard cutout of Dolly Parton, held by Andi Morrow of Scott County, Tenn. rises above the crowd at the Knoxville Women's March at Krutch park in downtown Knoxville Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018. The crowd grew to over 10,000 and spanned 10 blocks.

By 3:30 p.m., crowds began to thin and streets slowly re-opened.

Peterson and fellow organizer Caroline Mann credited Sunday’s turnout in part to delaying the march by a day to follow a similar event in Nashville on Saturday, enabling some Tennessee activists to participate in both.

“We had so many people from the community that were really torn, wanting to do both," Peterson said. "We listened to them and made it to where they could do both.”

Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero praised the city’s women for a year of hard-fought achievements and commended the victories in last year's elections that brought the number of women serving on the City Council from one to four.

“Women here in Knoxville got active, stayed active and won elections across the map, from local, to state, to federal,” Rogero said. “I hope that what you take away from this march is a determination to keep at it, to be the role models that our daughters and granddaughters need, to not give in to frustration or despair."

Shouts across Market Street

Before the first speaker took the stage for the Women's March, about 20 white separatists from the Traditionalist Worker Party marched up the street, under a police escort and greeted by jeers and curses.

Members of the Traditionalist Worker Party and their organizer Matthew Heimbach were on hand downtown to protest what he called a pro-abortion feminist agenda Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018.

Protest organizer Matthew Heimbach of Cincinnati, who helped lead a far-right demonstration that turned deadly in Charlottesville, Va., last year, said his group showed up to protest what he called a pro-abortion feminist agenda. He spent the first few minutes blowing kisses to hecklers from across a metal barricade and a line of police officers on a divided Market Street.

Heimbach's presence led police to set up checkpoints screened by metal detectors to separate the competing events. Police found no weapons on either side.

“We have a very strong local unit here in Knoxville, and we want to show the majority of people aren’t represented by the radical feminist agenda,” Heimbach said.

More than 1,000 Women's March demonstrators already inside the park across the street waved anti-Nazi signs as Heimbach’s group held up “White Pride” banners. Some hurled curses and insults; others laughed at the poor showing.

“That’s sad for a master race,” Knoxville lawyer and activist Chris Irwin shouted at Heimbach.

The face-off proved fairly calm compared to previous events, including an August rally on 17th Street “in support of” a monument to Confederate soldiers killed in the Battle of Fort Sanders.

Heimbach’s crowd left most of the talking to him, except for occasional chants of “White Power” and “National Socialism.”

Most of the demonstrators in Krutch Park kept their focus on the Women’s March speakers and their backs to the white nationalists.

“We want our own individual homeland,” Heimbach shouted at one point.

“Why don’t you leave, then?” came the reply.

“We’re going to take it!” Heimbach said.

“All 14 of you?” the counter-protester jeered. “Ha!”

A group of about 30 Antifa members arrived at one point, dressed in black with pink bandanas and chanting. They soon left, and most of their chants couldn't even be heard inside the protest area.

Anti-protest protestors unhand to protest the Traditionalist Worker Party and their organizer Matthew Heimbach who were protesting the Women's March in Knoxville Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018.

Heimbach and his followers left shortly before the Women's March began, escorted by police to their cars.

Peterson, the Women's March organizer, said she didn't begrudge the protesters having their say.

"They have a right to protest," she said. "That's one of the beautiful things about America - the First Amendment, which we vehemently defend. We're really not worried about it."

More:From protest to movement: Women march around the globe

More:Is the Women's March more inclusive this year?

'Focus on the babies'

As the Women's Marchers took their last steps, participants at the March for Life event filed to their cars.

Attendees marched from the convention center to the nearby ampitheater before dispersing to go to their vehicles. A bagpiper led the way, playing "Amazing Grace." Marchers held signs reading, "All Lives Matter Stop Abortion," "Abortion Hurts Women," and "Every Life Is Precious." Some held yellow balloons that they released into the sky.

Jamie Ely, of Walland, carries a sign during the annual March for Life event in Knoxville, Tennessee on Sunday, January 21, 2018. The event was held at the Knoxville Convention Center this year due to heightened tensions with the Women's March downtown which attracted white supremacist protestors and Antifa.

Organizers had changed the location from World's Fair Park to a meeting room inside the Knoxville Convention Center on Henley Street to keep out "support" from Heimbach and the Traditionalist Worker Party.

Shannon Gribble, of Knoxville, sings a hymn during the annual March for Life event in Knoxville, Tennessee on Sunday, January 21, 2018. The event was held at the Knoxville Convention Center this year due to heightened tensions with the Women's March downtown which attracted white supremacist protestors and Antifa.

Attendees had no desire "to be in the cross-hairs" of the competing protests, said Stacy Dunn, executive director of the Tennessee Right to Life's Knox County chapter.

Police stood by but set up no security checkpoints.

Speakers included Republican gubernatorial candidates Randy Boyd, Bill Lee and U.S. Rep. Diane Black.

Gary Johnson, of Sweetwater, holds a sign during the annual March for Life event in Knoxville, Tennessee on Sunday, January 21, 2018. The event was held at the Knoxville Convention Center this year due to heightened tensions with the Women's March downtown which attracted white supremacist protestors and Antifa.

Stacy Dunn called abortion the "greatest holocaust of our time" and said attendees at the Women's March focused on "my rights" and "my body" while attendees at the March for Life "focus on the babies."

Others present included Dunn's husband, state Rep. Bill Dunn, R-Knoxville; Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett; and state Sen. Becky Duncan Massey, R-Knoxville.

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USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee writers Travis Dorman and Andrew Capps contributed to this story.