Wake Forest Christmas Parade canceled due to threats of violence posed by outside groups
https://www.wakeforestnc.gov/news/wa...outside-groups


A North Carolina town canceled its decades-old Christmas parade this year over fears that protesters would disrupt it because of the event’s inclusion of Confederate groups.

City officials in Wake Forest, N.C., said last week in a Facebook post that they were planning on continuing with the parade despite concerns that the Sons & Daughters of the Confederacy would be included in the event.

But in a video published Thursday, Wake Forest Mayor Vivian Jones announced that the city’s Board of Directors would cancel the 70-year-old event “due to the threat of violence by groups outside our community.”

According to Wake Forest Police Chief Jeff Leonard a group that planned to attend the Dec. 14 parade “grew in number from less than 10 to over 200,” according to the Thursday statement. He did not specify whether the group planned to support or protest the Confederate group.
In the statement last week, the city explained that the Confederate group’s participation in the parade typically includes people dressed up in period costumes and a banner with an image of the Confederate flag.
https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-brief...due-to-fear-of