Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is prohibiting service members who work there from being in the area of a Ku Klux Klan rally scheduled for Saturday in downtown Dayton.
Service members were ordered not to enter Dayton’s Courthouse Square and the city blocks immediately surrounding it between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. Saturday, according an internal memorandum obtained by this news organization. The order was issued by Col. David R Anzaldua, vice commander of the 88th Air Base Wing at Wright-Patt.
The area of the KKK rally was deemed “off-limits” by Wright-Patt’s Armed Forces Disciplinary Control Board, which is in charge of maintaining order, discipline, health, morale and safety of military personnel at the base.
Service members who enter the prohibited area of the Klan rally are subject to action under the Uniform Code of Military Justice for failing to obey an order or regulation, according to the memo. Military personnel who live within the off-limits area are required to notify their commander and receive clearance to stay in their residence during the time of the rally Saturday.
In the memo, Anzaldua also recommended that civilian Wright-Patt employees and family members of everyone who works at the base avoid the area during the rally.
Workers were installing barriers Thursday in anticipation of the rally. Signs expressing messages of love and diversity are to be installed Friday.
A number of street closures are planned for Saturday’s rally which will also cause the Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority to alter some bus routes. The downtown Dayton Metro Library will also close.
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© 2019 the Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio)
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