The National Director of the KKK, Thomas Robb, sneered at Tulsa’s crowd of protestors as klansmen screamed, “White power!”
But then Robb froze. Someone was hurtling towards him.
20-year-old Tiffaeny Lanigan ran past the protesters, past the police, and past the barricades. Skidding to a halt in front of 20 Klansmen, she punched her fist in the air.
Robb stopped in front of Lanigan, staring her down. She stared right back, her Black Power fist still upheld.
Slowly, Robb raised the white power salute. The tension between them was razor sharp. Everyone — protestors, KKK, police — held their ground.
Ten minutes later they were still toe to toe. Police grew antsy and, without warning, forcefully removed Lanigan.
As she was dragged from the scene she screamed, "They should not be there…That is not American." Robb cackled and publicly invited supporters to a cross burning.
Lanigan challenged the KKK in 1996, but the Klan rally she protested is eerily similar to protests we see from white nationalists and the police officers who support them today.
Like Lanigan, we must never back down and continue to stand for what we believe in.