Agencies spent $85,400 on rally

'White unity' event used 340 officers

? State and local agencies said they spent $85,400 to provide security during a Statehouse rally last Saturday staged by white supremacists.

About 340 state and local law officers, led by the Kansas Highway Patrol, were on duty around the Statehouse.

Members of the Topeka Police Department line the street in front of the Kansas State House in Topeka. White supremacists staged a White Unity Rally, which was counterprotested by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and civic leaders. Local and state agencies spent 5,400 on staffing the event.

The rally went without serious incident, and there were no arrests. Twenty leaders of the National Socialist Movement, with headquarters in Minneapolis, Minn., shouted racist slogans and slurs from the Statehouse steps.

They had about 50 supporters on the grounds, while about 500 people participated in counterdemonstrations.

The opposing sides were separated by fences, and only the group’s leaders were allowed on the steps. The rally lasted about 90 minutes.

Most of the costs were for salaries and overtime. The cost to the state was $73,000 and $12,400 for the local agencies.

Reporting costs were:

l The Highway Patrol, $33,600. It had 98 troopers, 42 Capitol police and 14 officials from its headquarters on duty.

l Kansas Bureau of Investigation, $21,000. It had 39 agents at the rally.

l Department of Administration, $18,400. The department is charged with overseeing the use of the Statehouse grounds.

l Shawnee County Sheriff’s Department, $6,600. It had 41 officers, 10 reserve officers and seven posse members at the rally, Sheriff Dick Barta told The Topeka Capital-Journal on Thursday.

l Topeka Police Department, $3,500. It had more than 150 officers on duty.

l Topeka Fire Department, $2,300. Eight firefighters were on duty for at least part of the rally.