Philadelphia Inquirer | 09/01/2004 | Counter-rally to neo-Nazis approved at park

Valley Forge Park granted permits for two groups on Sept. 25. But they will be kept apart. Neo-Nazis planning a rally at Valley Forge National Historical Park later this month will have to share it with counter-demonstrators - but the two sides must keep their distance. National Park Service officials issued a permit yesterday for a rally to protest the message of the National Socialist Movement when its adherents gather in the park on Sept. 25. Phil Stinson, who is organizing the Rally for Social Justice, said it will give people opposed to the message of the National Socialist Movement a peaceful way to be involved and a forum to express their views. "As a parent, I want my son to learn something positive from the hate these people are bringing to town," said Stinson, a former civil rights lawyer and now full-time graduate student. Park superintendent Arthur Stewart said the permit allows Stinson's event to be held between 1 and 5 p.m. at Artillery Park, an open area of the park just off Gulph Road, below the Memorial Arch. He said there is easy access to the site, plenty of parking, and public restrooms. The National Socialists will rally at the Amphitheatre, which is a few hundred yards west of the visitors center.