Pep song controversy sparks Klan rally at Ole Miss

OXFORD, Miss. -- About a dozen hooded Ku Klux Klan members rallied briefly at the University of Mississippi before Saturday's football game with No. 10 LSU.

The members of the Mississippi White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan spent about 10 minutes waving flags, displaying Nazi-style salutes and occasionally gesturing at a group of about 250 hecklers that included young children. They were protesting the school's decision to drop a pep song that included "Dixie."

Some fans had been ending the song by chanting, "The South will rise again." Chancellor Dan Jones asked the band to stop playing the song after fans ignored a request to drop the chant.

The Klan said it was protesting over lost Southern symbolism at Ole Miss, which has been rocked by racial strife before.