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GBI director: White supremacist groups fading in Georgia

Neo-Nazis don't appear to be gaining any ground in Georgia, the director said.

ATLANTA — The director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation says that despite a high-profile rally in Newnan, white supremacist groups are fading in Georgia – and he predicts the neo-Nazi National Socialists will fade away as well.

When a group of neo-Nazis marched into a Newnan city park on April 21, the leader was a man from Michigan named Jeff Schoep. And the fist pumping man a few paces behind was a League of the South leader from Kentucky, Ike Baker.

AS IT HAPPENED | Newnan neo-Nazi rally and counter protests

AND | 3 dozen neo-Nazis met by hundreds of counter protestors, lots of police

Whether any of them was from Georgia is unclear. And Director of the GBI Vernon Keenan says he doesn’t really want to know.

"We do not collect information on persons attending a first amendment-protected rally unless they’re engaged in criminal activity," Keenan told 11Alive.

Keenan says white supremacists have learned how to keep out of the crosshairs of police investigators – by looking dangerous while avoiding calls to violence.

PHOTOS | Neo-Nazi rally & counter protesters in Newnan, Ga.

Keenan attended the Newnan event Saturday. The GBI had an intelligence-gathering operation in the Coweta County Justice Center. But Keenan says the neo-Nazis don't appear to be gaining any ground in Georgia.

"We had the Ku Klux Klan operated in the state of Georgia for two decades (in the late 20th century), and then they just disappeared from the scene because they were no longer getting the attention that they craved," Keenan explained. "This is what I see as happening with the neo Nazis."

MORE | Community sends message of #NewnanStrong ahead of neo-Nazi rally

Keenan says nearly 700 law enforcement officers were present in Newnan to keep hundreds of protestors separated from the white supremacists. He says the cost will be absorbed by the state and local jurisdictions who paid police to spend their Saturday protecting fewer than three dozen neo-Nazis.

RELATED | Why ten people were arrested at Newnan neo-Nazi rally

And Keenan says he hopes it will only be a one-time cost.

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