Name: Prattville state rep celebrates KKK leader as Alabama, nation mourn passing of John Lewis
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Prattville state rep celebrates KKK leader as Alabama, nation mourn passing of John Lewis

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Montgomery AdvertiserView CommentsA Prattville representative attended a celebration of a former Confederate general and Ku Klux Klan leader on the same weekend the state honored civil rights hero John Lewis.&nbsp;Rep. Will Dismukes’ appearance at an event celebrating Nathan Bedford Forrest —&nbsp;which he posted on his Facebook page —&nbsp;drew sharp criticism on social media and from some of his colleagues in the Legislature.&nbsp;“It’s totally insensitive,” said Rep. Christopher England, D-Tuscaloosa and the chairman of the Alabama Democratic&nbsp;Party. “It should not be where the state of Alabama is in 2020, where one of our elected officials in Alabama celebrates someone like that.”In a statement on Monday, Dismukes,&nbsp;a Prattville Republican, business owner and pastor,&nbsp;said his post "was in no way related to disrespecting the passing of Senator (sic) John Lewis.""My post yesterday was as usual me sharing a previous day's events," the statement said. "The post was in no way intended to seem as if I was glorifying the Klan or any party thereof. The very atrocities and actions they committed are a disgrace to our country."The statement did not explain why he attended the celebration in the first place. A followup question was sent to Dismukes on Monday morning.'John never gave up hope':&nbsp;'Keep his legacy alive':Forrest sold men, women, and children before the Civil War. In 1864, Forrest oversaw the massacre of 300 Black soldiers, who had already surrendered, following the Battle of Fort Pillow in Tennessee.After the war, Forrest joined the Ku Klux Klan and became its most prominent leader as it murdered newly enfranchised Black voters and their white Republican allies in the South. Though Forrest eventually&nbsp;left the Klan, he later obscured his role in the terrorist group. In testimony before Congress in 1871, he made an absurd claim that the Klan was a peaceful organization. Forrest reportedly told a friend after his testimony that he had been “lying like a gentleman."&nbsp;In the Facebook post, which was not available on Dismukes’ Facebook page on Monday morning but remains available through screenshots, Dismukes wrote that he “had a great time at Fort Dixie speaking and giving the invocation for Nathan Bedford Forrest (sic) annual birthday celebration. Always a great time and some sure enough good eating!!”Photos included with the post show Dismukes standing behind the four flags of the Confederacy, a white supremacist government whose vice president, Alexander Stephens, said rested on the principle that “the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition.”More:More:Dismukes appeared at Fort Dixie, the home of Butch and Pat Godwin, in Sardis. The Southern Poverty Law Center as the author of an Internet essay calling the Selma-to-Montgomery marches “the mother of all orgies,” a line of attack on the march similar to the one used by Alabama’s segregationist politicians of the time.&nbsp;The event came at the same time as ceremonies around Alabama honored Lewis, who died on July 17. The Georgia congressman, who was born in Troy and raised in Pike County, was a major leader in the civil rights movement. In 1961, while participating in the Freedom Rides, Lewis was one of many activists attacked by a white mob in Montgomery and beaten into unconsciousness.&nbsp;Four years later, Lewis helped lead hundreds of people over the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma in a civil rights march aimed at traveling from Selma to Montgomery. A law enforcement posse attacked them on the bridge in an event that became known as “Bloody Sunday.” The event led to the Selma-to-Montgomery marches and the Voting Rights Act.&nbsp;Mourners paid tribute to Lewis at ceremonies in Troy and Selma on Saturday. On Sunday, after Lewis’ body went over the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the congressman lay in state in the Alabama State Capitol. Further ceremonies honoring Lewis are scheduled in Washington, D.C. and Atlanta this week.&nbsp;Dismukes’ appearance at the events drew a rebuke from Rep. Danny Garrett, R-Trussville, who wrote in a Twitter post Sunday that he “could not fathom why anyone in 2020 celebrates the birthday of the 1st KKK Grand Wizard.”&nbsp;Garrett said in a phone interview Monday that he went to Montgomery on Sunday to pay his respects to Lewis, along with many of his Republican colleagues. He said Monday he wanted to make it clear that Dismukes’ views were “not the views of the majority of the Republican members of the legislature.”“Where it goes from here, I have no idea,” he said.Alabama Republican Party Chairwoman Terry Lathan criticized Dismukes in a statement, saying "Alabamians hold their elected officials to a high standard of actions. So does the Republican Party.""Rep. Dismukes offered no explanation for why he participated in a birthday celebration of Nathan Bedford Forrest," the statement said.&nbsp;"Additionally, I find his statement to be shallow in understanding why his activities are deeply offensive to so many Alabamians.&nbsp;His constituents will be the final decision makers of his political future."Lathan's statement said "the Alabama we are proud of" was on display in the ceremonies for Lewis this weekend, "showing the nation and world that we are one in the common goals of equality for all of our citizens."Dismukes' statement Monday said he made the Facebook post&nbsp;"independent of my colleagues.""My regret is that I have allowed them to be put in a negative light," the statement said. "If you disagree with me and my beliefs do not hold them under the same umbrella."Republican House leadership Monday distanced themselves from Dismukes' comments but stopped short of criticizing them, saying it was a question for the representative's constituents.&nbsp;"The Alabama House cannot police the beliefs, statements, and activities of its members outside the Legislature as that is a job best assigned to voters in each House district across the state," Alabama House Speaker Mac McCutcheon, R-Monrovia, said in a statement, while noting, like Garrett, that many House members participated in ceremonies honoring John Lewis, who McCutcheon called a "civil rights icon who dedicated his life to securing freedom, liberty, and equality for all Americans.”House Majority Leader Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, said in a statement that Republican House members had reached out to him about the post, and that he shared their concerns.&nbsp;"We live in a nation that guarantees each citizen the right to express the ideas they wish to share, and in the case of a public official, voters will ultimately decide if they agree with those ideas,” the statement said.&nbsp;The Alabama Democratic Party last month called for Dismukes to resign for celebrating Confederate flag day and serving as a chaplain for the Prattville Dragoons, a branch of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.&nbsp; Wade Perry, the executive director of the state party, renewed that call on Monday.&nbsp;"It's 2020 and it's time for racial extremists like Will Dismukes to go away,” Perry said in a statement.Dismukes mounted a brief campaign for the Republican nomination for the 2nd Congressional District last year, but later dropped out.His appearance at the party for Forrest came amid a broader controversy about Confederate monuments and symbols in Alabama and around the nation. A 2017 law known as the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act subjects local governments to a $25,000 fine for removing, altering, or renaming historically significant monuments or buildings 40 years old or older. The state also marks Confederate Memorial Day in April, and birthdays for Confederate General Robert E. Lee and Confederate President Jefferson Davis.&nbsp;“We have a state that celebrates Jefferson Davis and protects Confederate monuments,” England said. “It’s not a wonder that we have someone like him amongst our ranks.”&nbsp;Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Brian Lyman at 334-240-0185 or blyman@gannett.com. Updated at 1:01 p.m. with statement from the Alabama Democratic Party.&nbsp;View Comments

Montgomery AdvertiserView CommentsA Prattville representative attended a celebration of a former Confederate general and Ku Klux Klan leader on the same weekend the state honored civil rights hero John Lewis.&nbsp;Rep. Will Dismukes’ appearance at an event celebrating Nathan Bedford Forrest —&nbsp;which he posted on his Facebook page —&nbsp;drew sharp criticism on social media and from some of his colleagues in the Legislature.&nbsp;“It’s totally insensitive,” said Rep. Christopher England, D-Tuscaloosa and the chairman of the Alabama Democratic&nbsp;Party. “It should not be where the state...

Prattville state rep celebrates KKK leader as Alabama, nation mourn passing of John Lewis

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