At a KKK rally in Anaheim, Calif., one KKK member stabbed a counter-protester with the decorative end of a flag pole, setting off a vicious brawl where three people were stabbed, one critically, and two were assaulted. (Reuters) 
 
 In 1924, the Ku Klux Klan quietly took control of Anaheim, Calif. 
 
 As historian Shawn Lay details in “The Invisible Empire in the West,” the Klan membership roster in Orange County was 1,280 names-strong, and it was in that same year that four of five City Council seats were occupied by Klansmen. No one had taken issue with this during the election, as the candidates were well-known and could not be definitively tied to the Klan. 
 
 Still, Lay writes, the council’s “actions reflected the KKK’s specific and general objectives.” That summer, 10,000 Klansmen from across the state paraded through the city while a plane adorned by glowing crosses passed above. The rally ended at Anaheim City Park, where nearly 15,000 recruits were initiated into the order and celebrated with a fireworks display. 
 
 This onetime show of strength was but a faint memory at a KKK rally in Anaheim this Saturday, when a total of six Klan members arrived at a park to denounce “illegal immigration and Muslims,” according to the Los Angeles Times. 
 
 [Trump declines to assess white supremacy groups, including KKK, without first doing research] 
 
 The counter-protesters, by contrast, were several dozen in number. When the Klan members pulled up in an SUV wearing black outfits with Confederate flag patches, the protesters had already been peacefully gathered for hours. 
 
 Witnesses told Reuters and the Associated Press that the protesters began throwing sticks and other items when the KKK car appeared with signs that read “White Lives Matter.” 
 
 The encounter quickly descended into violence, as one Klan member was seen with a knife and another using the decorative end of a flag pole as a weapon. 
 
 One man could be heard screaming, “I got stabbed,” the AP reported, as he lifted up his T-shirt to reveal a spouting wound. A nearby fire hydrant was splattered with blood. 
 
 By the end, three people had been stabbed, one critically. All were believed to be counter-protesters. 
 
 
 
 Police officers investigate the scene near Pearson Park in Anaheim, Calif., on Feb. 27 after three counter-protesters were stabbed while clashing with KKK members staging a rally. (Ringo Chiu/AFP/Getty Images) 
 
 Five KKK members were initially arrested, but they were released on Sunday because police said they acted in self-defense. Seven counter-protesters remain in custody for allegedly beating, stomping and attacking the Klansmen with wooden posts. 
 
 At the start of the fight, three KKK members immediately fled back inside their SUV and drove off, witness Brian Levin told the Times. The remaining three were left to “fend for themselves,” said Levin, who directs Cal State San Bernardino’s Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism and was interviewing Klansmen at the protest. 
 
 Levin said he pushed a ringleader of the Klan rally away from the crowd as counter-protesters approached. 
 
 “How do you feel that a Jewish guy just saved your life?” Levin asked, referring to himself. 
 
 To this, the man responded: “Thank you.” 
 
 Anaheim police have been criticized for their response, which left chaos in its wake. A crowd of 100 applauded as they watched the Klansmen being arrested. 
 
 Yet, without the authorities, Levin told the Times, the KKK members “would have been torn limb from limb.” Police said in a statement Saturday that they were aware of the planned rally and counter-protest and had assigned officers to the location. 
 
 “Even if the vast majority of our community disagrees with a particular group who visits our city we cannot stop them from lawfully gathering to express their opinions,” Police Chief Raul Quezada said in the statement. 
 
 Others present blamed the Klansmen for the brawl. Martin Buenorostro told the Times that his friend was the one who had been critically injured. 
 
 “They started pulling out weapons,” Buenorostro said. “One of them had the flag, the American flag, with the pointed top and I think that’s what got my friend. It’s a serious wound. It wasn’t like the blood was dripping out. It gushed out of him.” 
 
 The critically injured man is now in stable condition. 
 
 KKK membership has been on the decline for decades, falling from a peak of 4 million in 1925 to between 5,000 and 8,000 Klansmen today, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. Its rallies tend to attract more reporters and counter-protesters than Klansmen. 
 
 But one Republican presidential candidate may be turning the tide for latent white nationalists. 
 
 Rachel Pendergraft, a national organizer for a Ku Klux Klan subgroup known as the Knights Party, told The Washington Post that Donald Trump’s ascendance has opened “a door to conversation.” 
 
 
 
 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks to supporters during a rally in Fort Worth on Feb. 26. (LM Otero/AP) 
 
 “They like the overall momentum of his rallies and his campaign,” she said. “They like that he’s not willing to back down. He says what he believes and he stands on that.” 
 
 Trump, who has garnered support for such proposals as building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico and barring all Muslims from entry, has made “the native tongue of disaffected whites” mainstream, The Post’s Peter Holley and Sarah Larimer wrote last week. 
 
 [How America’s dying white supremacist movement is seizing on Donald Trump’s appeal] 
 
 The former “Grand Wizard” of the KKK, David Duke, told his followers last week that voting for anyone other than Trump “is really treason to your heritage.” 
 
 The GOP candidate disavowed Duke’s semi-endorsement, but said on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday morning that he would have to do more research before forming an opinion on white supremacist groups. 
 
 “You know, I know nothing about David Duke,” Trump said on the show. “I know nothing about white supremacists.” 
 
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 ‘Help! Brother has killed everyone’: Indian man fatally slashed 14 relatives at family gathering, police say ||||| Five Ku Klux Klan members who were arrested following a vicious brawl in Anaheim were released because evidence shows they acted in self-defense, police said. 
 
 Seven people who remained in custody were seen beating, stomping and attacking the Klansmen with wooden posts, Sgt. Daron Wyatt said Sunday. 
 
 A police statement said the clash, which erupted after six Klan members arrived at a park Saturday for an anti-immigration rally, was started by a group of 10 to 20 counter-protesters who had "the intent of perpetrating violence." 
 
 In witness video, protesters are seen surrounding a KKK member as protesters gathered at a KKK rally in Anaheim, Calif. Feb. 28, 2016. (AP) In witness video, protesters are seen surrounding a KKK member as protesters gathered at a KKK rally in Anaheim, Calif. Feb. 28, 2016. (AP) SEE MORE VIDEOS 
 
 Police said the Klansmen stabbed three counter-protesters with knives and the decorative end of a flag pole. 
 
 "Regardless of an individual or groups' beliefs or ideologies, they are entitled to live without the fear of physical violence and have the right, under the law, to defend themselves when attacked," the statement said. 
 
 Mayhem ensued Saturday as soon as the Klan members pulled up in a black SUV and pulled out signs reading "White Lives Matter." Dozens of protesters swarmed in and someone smashed a window. The SUV then sped away, leaving three Klansmen outnumbered. 
 
 "(The counter-protesters) were so angry, they would have torn these folks limb from limb," said Brian Levin, who directs the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino. "I was afraid for their lives." 
 
 Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times A Ku Klux Klansman, left, struggles with a protester for an American flag after members of the KKK tried to start a "White Lives Matter" rally at Pearson Park in Anaheim on Saturday. Three people were treated at the scene for stab wounds, and 13 people were arrested. A Ku Klux Klansman, left, struggles with a protester for an American flag after members of the KKK tried to start a "White Lives Matter" rally at Pearson Park in Anaheim on Saturday. Three people were treated at the scene for stab wounds, and 13 people were arrested. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 
 
 Levin, who went to Pearson Park expecting to record the rally for research, found himself protecting the Klansmen until police could intervene. On a video Levin shot and posted to Twitter, he later asked one of them, "How do you feel that a Jewish person helped save your life today?" 
 
 "I thank you. I thank you," said the Klansman, waving away the question with his blood-spattered arm. 
 
 Anaheim is known for pushing back against the Klan in 1924 when its members gained four of five City Council seats. Those Klansmen were ousted in a recall election after their Klan affiliation became public and following a nighttime KKK initiation rally that attracted an estimated 10,000 people to the same city park where Saturday's violence erupted. 
 
 "The only reason we remember Anaheim for the Klan is because they fought the Klan so hard," said Phil Brigandi, an Orange County historian and author. 
 
 In the near century since then, Anaheim has gone from 95 percent white to become 53 percent Hispanic and 27 percent white, according to census data. 
 
 "We're a far cry from those terrible times and the Klan is really an anachronism," Levin said. 
 
 When the melee started, Levin said he saw no uniformed officers. Wyatt said police were there and engaged with people at one end of the fight, and called for additional resources to deploy to the other end. The event stretched along a city block, he said. 
 
 Police Chief Raul Quezada said his officers were able to respond quickly enough to arrest all but one of the main participants, a counter-protester who remains at-large. 
 
 The Klan members were booked for investigation of assault with a deadly weapon before being released. The seven people who remained in custody were booked for assault with a deadly weapon or elder abuse for stomping on a Klan member who's older than 65 years old, Wyatt said. 
 
 Though the Klan members were released, prosecutors will review the case and decide whether to file criminal charges, he said. 
 
 Chris Barker, who identified himself as the imperial wizard of the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, told The Associated Press by phone from North Carolina that his members were holding a peaceful anti-immigration demonstration and acted in self-defense. 
 
 "If we're attacked, we will attack back," said Barker, whose organization lists Pelham, N.C., as its headquarters. 
 
 Nationwide, the number of active KKK groups increased to 190 in 2015 after falling in 2013 and 2014, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups. 
 
 Associated Press ||||| About 12 p.m., several men in black garb with Confederate flag patches arrived in an SUV near the edge of the park. Fighting broke out moments after they got out of the car. Some of the protesters could be seen kicking a man whose shirt read "Grand Dragon." ||||| Five KKK members are released in the investigation into a brawl at an Anaheim rally. Rick Montanez reports for Today in LA on Monday Feb. 29, 2016. (Published Monday, Feb. 29, 2016) 
 
 After a violent brawl broke out at an Orange County park between KKK members and counter-protesters, Anaheim police released the Klan members Sunday, saying evidence supports they acted in self-defense. 
 
 Five of the 12 originally arrested were released Sunday afternoon after detectives said they pored over videos, photos and witness interviews. The Anaheim Police Department said the KKK members were released because "the images and statements corroborate witness statements that they were acting in self-defense." 
 
 About 10 to 20 people were involved in the incidents that resulted in three people getting stabbed. One KKK member was behind all three stabbings, according to Anaheim police Sgt. Daron Wyatt. 
 
 "Regardless of an individual or groups’ beliefs or ideologies, they are entitled to live without the fear of physical violence and have the right, under the law, to defend themselves when attacked," Anaheim police said in a statement. 
 
 3 Stabbed at KKK March, 12 Arrested in Orange County 
 
 Thirteen were arrested and three stabbed when groups clash at an Orange County KKK march. Rick Montanez reports for the NBC4 News at 8 on Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016. (Published Monday, Feb. 29, 2016) 
 
 Klan members were booked for investigation of assault with a deadly weapon before being released. The seven people who remained in custody were booked for assault with a deadly weapon or elder abuse for stomping on a Klan member who's older than 65 years old, police said. 
 
 Police said 51-year-old Charles Edward Donner of San Francisco, 20-year-old Marquis DeShawn Turner of Anaheim, 25-year-old Randy Omarcc Felder of Lakewood and 19-year-old Guy Harris, a homeless man, were booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. They were being held on $25,000 bail. 
 
 Hugo Contreras, 38, of Hawthorne; Nicole Rae Schop, 24, and Mark Anthony Liddell, 26, both of Los Angeles, face charges of elder abuse and were being held on $50,000 bail, police said. 
 
 Though the Klan members were released, prosecutors will review the case and decide whether to file criminal charges, authorities said. 
 
 The brawl broke out about 11 a.m. near the site of an planned afternoon rally at Pearson Park located in the 400 block of North Harbor Boulevard, according to Wyatt. Police had said Friday that the department was aware of a KKK "walking protest" planned at the park for 1:30 p.m. Saturday, and that the group had held similar rallies before in Orange County. 
 
 "(The counter-protesters) were so angry, they would have torn these folks limb from limb," said Brian Levin, who directs the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino. "I was afraid for their lives." 
 
 Levin, who went to Pearson Park expecting to record the rally for research, found himself protecting the Klansmen until police could intervene. On a video Levin shot and posted to Twitter, he later asked one of them, "How do you feel that a Jewish person helped save your life today?" 
 
 A Klansman stabbed a counter-protester in the chest with an eagle figure at the end of the flag, according to Wyatt. The protester was transported to a hospital in critical condition. 
 
 "As stated previously, I implore everyone to respond with peace and dignity, regardless of where your support lies," Anaheim Police Chief Raul Quezada said in a statement. "We have a unique opportunity to bond together as OUR Anaheim community." 
 
 Rosa Madrigal, a 25-year-old mother who was at the park Sunday with her husband and three children, told The Associated Press she was shocked to even hear about the KKK holding a rally in Anaheim, let alone the violence that ensued. 
 
 "I didn't even think it was true when I heard it," Madrigal said. "It's crazy, especially in a park where you take your kids." 
 
 Nationwide, the number of active KKK groups increased to 190 in 2015 after falling in 2013 and 2014, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups. In January 2015, packets containing fliers from the "Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan" and condemning the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. were left in the driveways of about 40 homes in Santa Ana, about 8 miles south of Anaheim. 
 
 California has 68 hate groups identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center, second only to Texas' 84. 
 
 NBC4's Jonathan Lloyd contributed to this report. 
 
 Copyright Associated Press / NBC Southern California
– A California Ku Klux Klan rally on Saturday ended with three anti-KKK protesters stabbed and five KKK members arrested. But Anaheim cops now say those five have been released after evidence shows they acted in self-defense, the Los Angeles Times reports. "The totality of the evidence, including videos, still pictures, and interviews, paints a pretty clear picture as to who the aggressors were," an Anaheim police sergeant says. The demonstration, which the Chicago Tribune says was meant to be an anti-immigration rally, turned violent from the get-go after six KKK members showed up around noon. Witnesses say some of the anti-protesters—who the Washington Post says numbered in the "several dozen"—started kicking a Klansman wearing a "Grand Dragon" shirt, and soon the stabbings began, including one by a KKK member using the decorative end of a flagpole. "[The counter-protesters] were so angry, they would have torn these folks limb from limb," Brian Levin, the director of Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University-San Bernardino, tells NBC Los Angeles. Levin, who was there to record the rally for research purposes, says he ended up shielding KKK members until police could get there. "I was afraid for their lives." Levin later posted on Twitter a video of him asking one of the KKK members: "How do you feel that a Jewish person helped save your life today?" (The Klansman thanked him.) "Regardless of an individual or group's beliefs or ideologies, they are entitled to live without the fear of physical violence and have the right, under the law, to defend themselves when attacked," a police statement read, per NBC. The seven counter-protesters who remain jailed are being held on charges of assault with a deadly weapon or elder abuse for attacking a Klan member older than 65. The three people stabbed were in stable condition at a local hospital.