Many of the protesters carried rifles, including military-type weapons, and some wore ammunition belts slung over their shoulders. Although African Americans appeared to account for the vast majority of the marchers, protesters of various races, men and women alike, were among the group.
Stone Mountain has long held symbolism for white supremacists. The Ku Klux Klan, a hate group that was formed by Confederate Army veterans and has a history of lynchings and terror against Black people, held its rebirth ceremony atop mountain in 1915 with flaming crosses. Klansmen still hold occasional gatherings in the shadows of the edifice, albeit now met with protesters behind police tape. Many of those cross-burnings took place on or around July 4.
- Images of Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson are carved into the rock.
- Stone Mountain is a Georgia state park.
- The sculpture is around nine stories high and about as long as a football field.
- The park reopened for the Forth of July weekend after being closed because of the coronavirus.
