Feb. 29--Protesters gathered outside Anaheim police headquarters on Sunday, one day after violence erupted at a Ku Klux Klan rally in the city, leaving three people injured with stab wounds and 12 people arrested.
More than a dozen people carried signs demanding the release of seven anti-KKK protesters who were among those arrested in Saturday's bloody brawl.
"Some of them are being held on trumped-up charges of elder abuse" in the melee involving members of the klan "and we're fighting for all charges to be dropped, but we're not getting answers," said Debbie Leance, the group's spokeswoman and a high school teacher from Riverside.
NEWSLETTER: Get essential California headlines delivered daily >>
The demonstration comes as Anaheim police released one of the KKK members who had been arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. Police initially arrested him on an allegation that the man had stabbed a protester, but investigators reviewed video that appeared to exonerate him.
"Based on a video a detective reviewed, it does appear to be self-defense and defense of another," said Sgt. Daron Wyatt.
A final decision on whether to file charges will be made by prosecutors.
Anaheim city officials have defended the police's handling of the melee. Cautioning that officers had a "tough job" to protect everyone, Mayor Tom Tait said that police are conducting an internal review to assess whether the department's performance could be improved.
Wyatt said the department had a plan in place and that officers quickly responded to the violence.
"We had individuals who specifically came there to commit acts of violence, and there is nothing to do to stop that," he said of the violent confrontation that was partly captured on video.
A small group of people representing the klan had announced that it would hold a rally at Pearson Park at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, police said. By 11 a.m., several dozen protesters had shown up to confront the klan.
About an hour later, several men in black garb with Confederate flag patches arrived in an SUV near the edge of the park.
Fighting broke out moments after klan members exited the vehicle. Some of the protesters could be seen kicking a man whose shirt read "Grand Dragon."
At some point, a protester collapsed on the ground bleeding, crying that he had been stabbed.
A klansman in handcuffs could be heard telling a police officer that he "stabbed him in self-defense." Several other people were also handcuffed.
Witnesses said the klansmen used the point of a flagpole as a weapon while fighting with protesters.
Two other protesters were stabbed during the melee -- one with a knife and the other with an unidentified weapon, Wyatt said.
Brian Levin, director of Cal State San Bernardino's Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, said he was standing near the KKK members when several protesters attacked them with 2-by-4s and other weapons.
Several of the klan members jumped in the SUV and sped off, leaving three others to "fend for themselves," Levin said.
Levin had been trying to interview the KKK ringleader, whom he identified as William Quigg of Anaheim.
Quigg is the leader of the Loyal White Knights in California and other Western states, a unit of the hate group, Levin said. They see themselves as a "klan without robes" and model themselves after David Duke, the Louisiana-based former grand wizard of the klan, Levin said.
Levin said he was standing next to Quigg when a crowd of protesters swarmed the klan members. Levin said he pushed the klan leader away as the violence continued and a protester was stabbed.
A few minutes later, a crowd of about 100 people cheered when police handcuffed Quigg and one of his followers.
Here is a list of some of those arrested from the Anaheim police:
Charles Edward Donner, 51, of San Francisco, who was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, with bail set at $25,000.
Nicole Rae Schop, 24, of Los Angeles, who was arrested on suspicion of elder abuse, with bail set at $50,000.
Marquis DeShawn Turner, 20, of Anaheim, who was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, with bail set at $25,000.
Randy Omarcc Felder, 25, of Lakewood, who was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, with bail set at $25,000.
Mark Anthony Liddell, 26, of Los Angeles, who was arrested on suspicion of elder abuse, with bail set at $50,000.
Guy Harris, 19, a transient, who was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, with bail set at $25,000.
Hugo Contreras, 38, of Hawthorne, who was arrested on suspicion of elder abuse, with bail set at $50,000.
Anaheim officials released a photo of an outstanding suspect.
For more news in California, follow @NewsTerrier and @LACrimes.
Times staff writers James Queally and Matt Hamilton contributed to this report.
