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15 <br /> 1 Chair Rich read the Resolution: <br /> 2 <br /> 3 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> 4 Resolution Condemning the Ku Klux Klan and Other Similar Groups <br /> 5 <br /> 6 WHEREAS, the Ku Klux Klan, consisting of numerous independent local groups throughout the <br /> 7 United States, is an organization that symbolizes hatred; and <br /> 8 <br /> 9 WHEREAS, the Ku Klux Klan promotes violence, domestic terrorism and racial terrorism; and <br /> 10 <br /> 11 WHEREAS, intimidation, discrimination, oppression, and racism threaten American democracy; <br /> 12 and <br /> 13 <br /> 14 WHEREAS, white supremacists are exploiting bigotry and have weaponized hate targeting <br /> 15 African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, Asian Americans, LGBTQ communities, <br /> 16 immigrants, Jews, Muslims, and other people of color and of other faiths; and <br /> 17 <br /> 18 WHEREAS, there is an urgent need to ensure the safety and security of all Orange County <br /> 19 residents, and <br /> 20 <br /> 21 WHEREAS, Orange County is taking strides to become a more diverse and inclusive open <br /> 22 community dedicated to fostering positive human relations, promoting the equal treatment of all <br /> 23 individuals, encouraging goodwill, harmony and unity among groups in the County; and <br /> 24 protecting residents' personal dignity so as to make available to the County their full productive <br /> 25 and creative capacities; and <br /> 26 <br /> 27 WHEREAS, Orange County fully embraces the rights guaranteed in the First Amendment to the <br /> 28 Bill of Rights, but equally believes those rights do not give the right to any persons or groups to <br /> 29 threaten the existence of others; <br /> 30 <br /> 31 NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT we, the Orange County Board of Commissioners, <br /> 32 strongly oppose the activities of the Ku Klux Klan, reject white nationalist, white supremacist, <br /> 33 neo-Nazis and other hate groups, and urge lawmakers in the State of North Carolina and the <br /> 34 Federal Government to denounce threats posed by those groups. <br /> rd <br /> 35 This the 3 day of September 2019. <br /> 36 <br /> 37 PUBLIC COMMENT: <br /> 38 Anna Richards said she did not know this was on the agenda, and wanted to stay and <br /> 39 offer her support. She said 1919 was known as the year of terror in the United States, and <br /> 40 there were streams of blood across the country as African Americans were killed in large <br /> 41 numbers mostly by the KKK. She said this is a terrorist group, and she is happy to hear the <br /> 42 strong denunciation of this group by the Board. She said she attended the vigil on Sunday, and <br /> 43 saw a great deal of intimidation occurring. She said she hopes these threats are being taken <br /> 44 seriously by law enforcement. <br /> 45 Riley Ruske said, as written, this Resolution represents another in a series of County <br /> 46 government attacks on the first amendment rights of citizens to speak freely and assemble <br /> 47 peaceably. He said it is particularly problematic in its lack of clarity in defining the groups it is <br /> 48 attacking. He said the term "other hate groups" is especially dangerous to a free society, and <br /> 49 asked if there is a way to define hate or a hate group. He said animosity towards others is a <br /> 50 human condition, which no one likes, but it is real. He said the BOCC claims to embrace first <br />