Stone Mtn. Park considers how to cap volatile protests

Officials with Georgia's Stone Mountain Park, a major metro Atlanta attraction for tourists and locals, are scouring laws trying to avoid the kind of protests that turned violent on Saturday.

Law enforcement officials had hoped to limit the potential for trouble before three Saturday rallies, including a “white power” gathering and two counter protests. But counter-protesters sometimes violently confronted police.

John Bankhead, a spokesman for the Stone Mountain Memorial Association which oversees the state-owned park, said the organization is looking for other steps it can take.

“We are further examining the options that might be available under park ordinances, Georgia law and Federal law to prevent or control such volatile events in the future,” he wrote in an email to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We will be looking at all additional options available to balance the safety of the public vs. the right to freedom of speech.”

Meanwhile, some families with children that paid to enter the park Saturday didn't know trouble was brewing. Find out what was disclosed to them by the private Gwinnett-based business that operates attractions and gates at the park, in my latest Unofficial Business column on myAJC.com.

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