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‘Hale’ storm coming to Fayetteville
The Register-Herald, Oct. 22, 2002
http://www.zwire.com/
By: Annette Z. Fox, Register-Herald Reporter
Non-whites in West Virginia “are too many and need to go,” believes the Rev. Matt Hale, who plans to lead a white supremacist rally Saturday in Fayetteville.
As leader of the World Church of the Creator, Hale said in a press release that “hundreds of white racists” from several organizations will be holding the public rally Saturday from 10 a.m. until noon at Fayetteville Town Hall. White supremacist groups such as the KnightRiders of the Ku Klux Klan and SS Action Group will be attending, he said.
Hale believes that “persons of color must immediately be deported from America to the land of their racial origin so that the future of the white race in America may be secured.”
Referring to West Virginia, Hale said, “While it is currently an overwhelmingly white state, any non-whites within it are too many and need to go.
“I believe this rally will not only be attended and supported by hundreds of our active adherents around the country, but also by the citizens of West Virginia themselves.”
In a phone interview Monday from his home in Illinois, Hale said he hasn’t been to West Virginia since he was a child.
Hale also said his church hasn’t sponsored any previous rallies in the state.
The World Church of the Creator, he says, is not affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan. However, it often participates in joint rallies with the KKK.
Hale said Raleigh County resident Michael Bryant is a member of the KKK and the World Church of the Creator.
“It was his idea to have the rally and I agreed,” Hale said. “We would like to have a strong force in West Virginia. We’re hoping this rally will start the process.”
Bryant, of Daniels, was instrumental in bringing the NAAWP – National Association for the Advancement of White People – to Raleigh County this summer for a “heritage rally.”
Currently, there are members of the World Church of the Creator in the state, but there isn’t “much activity,” Hale said.
“We’d like to change that. We’re hoping the rally will change that.”
Hale said goals for the weekend event is to bring the issue of white power to the forefront, regardless of the attendance or reception the organizations receive.
“We believe preserving the white race is important. In fact, there’s no goal more important.”
Hale wants locals to attend the meeting, noting there are “members right there in West Virginia” and that some of “our people” will be coming from outside the state.
Fayetteville Mayor Jim Murdock recently declined to comment on the rally, saying the State Police are handling the issue.
According to State Police Major B.D. Gore of Professional Standards at Charleston headquarters, security will be heightened but no trouble is anticipated.
“The people that are coming here are just going to have a rally for some type of freedom of speech issue,” Gore noted. “I don’t expect it to get out of hand. Obviously, we will have law enforcement on the scene there.”
Fayette County Chief Deputy Steve Kessler said a similar rally was held in the county several years ago but it was not sponsored by the World Church of the Creator. As for expecting trouble out of participants, he’s not sure.
“It’s hard to say because they’ve rallied here before and we haven’t had any problems,” Kessler said. “Do we expect it? No. Are we prepared for it? Yes.”
He does, however, believe there are active members of the KKK in both Raleigh and Fayette counties.
The sheriff’s department, State Police and Fayetteville police have coordinated a contingency plan on handling the rally should problems erupt.
“I think it’s going to be safe,” Kessler said. “We’re going to try to make it as safe as possible.”
According to Hale, World Church of the Creator is the fastest-growing white racist and anti-Semitic organization in America. Saturday’s rally will mark the “continuing success of various White Power organizations in coming together and pooling their resources and dedication for the common cause of white solidarity.”
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