White nationalists to protest Knoxville Pridefest

The white separatists who've demonstrated at previous Knoxville events say they plan to show up again June 23 to protest the annual Pridefest parade.

A Facebook page for the protest denounces the festivities as "an abominable event ... targeting our children" and calls on members to rally in opposition.

"As thousands of pedophiles, homosexuals and other perverts target the heart of the Bible Belt, let us rise up and meet the foe!" a post reads.

More:Ahead of gathering, Blackburn, Bredesen say white nationalists not welcome in Tennessee

'Safe and secure'

Parade organizers say they'll be ready.

"It should be just like it always has been for the past few years, ever since the Pulse shooting," said Mark Church-Janes, vice president of Knox Pride. "It will be a safe and secure environment for everyone, and we've gone to extreme measures to keep it that way."

No plans for the parade or other programs will change, he said. The free event runs from noon to 9 p.m. on the Mary Costa Lawn beside the Knoxville Civic Coliseum. The parade will kick off the festival at 11 a.m. 

"We are aware of the planned protest and are currently working on security plans," Knoxville Police Department spokesman Darrell DeBusk said.

A recurring theme

Such protests have become a familiar facet of events in Knoxville over the past year, starting with a rally last summer "in support of" a monument to Confederate soldiers killed in the Civil War's Battle of Fort Sanders.

About 20 demonstrators identifying themselves as members of the Traditionalist Worker Party turned out in January to protest the Knoxville Women's March 2.0. About 45 showed up when the group's founder, Matthew Heimbach, held a gathering on the University of Tennessee campus in February.

Counter-protesters have typically outnumbered such demonstrators at each event, sometimes by margins as high as 70 to 1.

John May, a member of Heimbach's group, said a variety of groups will be at this month's protest but gave few specifics. It's not clear whether the Traditionalist Worker Party remains a player on the separatist scene since the high-profile arrests of Heimbach and other key members earlier this year.

"Some of them will be protesting the parade, and some others will be waiting at the coliseum to protest," he wrote in an email. "We will be going to protest in a peaceful manner, but will defend ourselves if attacked."

Pridefest organizers said they're used to such displays. A handful of protesters typically appear each year.

Church-Janes said he expects as many as 30,000 people for this year's event, which will include street entertainers, roughly 100 food vendors and a shoot for a music video by the band Hudson K. Parade participants will be allowed to wear costumes, but no masks.

State law and city ordinance allow police to ban masks at public demonstrations.

Organizers have always emphasized security but gave it top priority after the Pulse nightclub shooting of June 12, 2016, when a gunman opened fire inside a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla., and killed 49 people.

"Unfortunately, that's the world we live in now," Church-Janes said.

Scenes from last year's event went viral after visiting members of the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington drowned out protesters by singing the national anthem and a couple of showtunes.

Knoxville attorney Chris Irwin, who helped shout down white nationalists at previous events, said he plans to help organize a counter-demonstration to confront the protesters.

"We've seen that ignoring these people doesn't work," he said. "We're going to get as many people as we can out there to debate and destroy them."