Townspeople stroll in quiet protest of Klan rally plans

Tuesday, August 1st 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

(Siloam Springs, Arkansas-AP) -- Residents of Siloam Springs on the Arkansas-Oklahoma border are letting their legs do the talking about a planned Ku Klux Klan rally Saturday. Dozens of people took to the streets in a quiet protest of the rally planned for the front of the city's administration building.

The walks are being encouraged by religious leaders unhappy with the Klan's plans. The walkers are finding themselves sometimes talking with an Oklahoma Klansman during their strolls. Tom Yoakum is a member of the Church of the American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan and is a West Siloam Springs resident. And Yoakum has cruised through town in his pickup truck occasionally talking to the strolling protesters. Yoakum says he wants peace just as the walkers do.