STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. — UPDATE: Stone Mountain Park announced the closure of attractions and the Lasershow was canceled on Saturday. Natural areas, camping, hotels and golf remain open. The attractions will be open on Sunday.

All eyes will be on Stone Mountain Park as the sons of Confederate veterans prepare to hold a rally Saturday on what would be Confederate Memorial Day.

This wouldn’t be the first Confederate Memorial Day event held at Stone Mountain Park. The State of Georgia officially declared it a Confederate Memorial Site years ago, which is why the rally is taking place there.

The permit for the event in 2021 was denied due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In years past, protesters have clashed at rallies, some of them even being seen spraying a Georgia State Patrol officer with pepper spray.

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Earlier this week, the Southern Poverty Law Center asked the Stone Mountain Memorial Association to revoke the permit for the rallybut the park said Channel 2 Action News that they cannot legally revoke this year’s permit.

Wednesday, Channel 2 Action News contacted the association’s CEO, who said, “This is a First Amendment free speech event. We will continue to follow state law and honor the First Amendment rights of all Georgians. »

We also attempted to contact the sons of Confederate veterans for comment on the rally, but they never responded.

There are reports of planned protests against Saturday’s rally. But so far, the park told Elliot, none of these groups have applied for permits.

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