Sep 26, 2013 1 min read

GETTYSBURG, Pa. (AP) — The Ku Klux Klan has been granted a permit to hold an event at Gettysburg National Military Park.

Park officials say the special-use permit was approved for a Maryland-based KKK group to exercise its First Amendment rights on Oct. 5. The afternoon event will be held on the lawn area north of Gen. George Meade’s Headquarters.

Officials say the park has a responsibility to make that land available for citizens to exercise their right to freedom of speech, even if the views expressed are contrary to those of most Americans.

The group held a membership rally earlier this month at the Antietam National Battlefield near Sharpsburg, Md., where thousands of people died in a Civil War clash that set the stage for the Emancipation Proclamation.