On Saturday, February 27, a massive fight broke out at a Ku Klux Klan rally in Anaheim, CA, resulting in 3 people being sent to the hospital for stab injuries, and 13 others being arrested by the Anaheim Police Department, with 7 facing charges for assault, and one suspect still evading Anaheim Police.

The rally was set to be held at Pearson Park in Anaheim at 1:30 PM, but at 11 in the morning, dozens had already arrived, equipped with American flags and "White Lives Matter" signs. No police presence could be found on the scene, until about an hour later, as a handful of Metalheads (as inferred by their attire) pulled up to the park in an SUV, and immediately began assaulting the Klan members. All but six Klan members had fled, with those six left to fend for themselves against a mob of roughly 30 counter-protesters, who had likely shown up with the intention of violence.

Moments after the brawling began, one counter-protester began to cry that he had been stabbed with a knife, and the apprehended Klansmen claimed he did it "in self-defense". Witnesses also report that Klan members began using the tip of their flagpole as a weapon, as well an another object APD didn't not identify in public reports. APD later retracted any statements claiming that any of the three stab victims were stabbed with the flagpole, as they now believe all three were a result of knives.

This particular sect of the KKK was led by William Quigg, one of the only demonstrators who resides in Anaheim. He's the leader of the Royal White Knights, a group of Klan members who pride themselves on being public about their identities and not wearing the traditional hoods that we all recognize. They model themselves after David Duke, the former Grand Wizard of the Klan group based in Louisiana.

Sadly, the Klan has had a strong political force in Anaheim dating back as far as the 1920s, holding most of the city's council seats at that time. Even today, residents of Orange County claim Klan presence to be an issue, albeit quite sporadic and inconsistent, with the Klan going as far as leaving fliers with racist rhetoric paired with candy on residents doorsteps, and handing out fliers on Martin Luther King Jr. day.

As a result of this incident —13 people have been arrested by APD. Seven counter-protesters—six male and 1 female and five Klan members—four male and one female, with a 13th suspect being arrested the following day for assault with a deadly weapon after police reviewed the video evidence.

When police had finally arrived on the scene, they began dispersing the crowd of about 100 bystanders and attempted to end the violence, after determining that the Klan members were acting in self-defense. Anaheim police released a statement the following day, stating, "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."

While I obviously can't stand the Klan, they've got a point. The First Amendment is a gray area for far too many situations nowadays, as you're given the right to say what you want, and you're protected by the law. If you want to run through the streets talking about how much you hate minorities, your government protects you.

I understand how badly anyone would want to beat some sense into the KKK, but violence in this degree doesn't get anyone anywhere. It only gives the Klan more fuel, because now they can reason that if they're willing to take a beating, they can protest and just wait for another brawl so they can hurt people out of self-defense.

And it's situations like these that remind me of an annual event at SUNY Purchase, Sin Awareness Day.

I experienced my first Sin Awareness Day this past Fall, where members of the Methodist Church protested on Purchase's Great Lawn against homosexuality, and other alternative life choices. I didn't actively participate in the disrobing, public displays of homosexual love, chanting and singing, but sat further away because I was honestly somewhat concerned as to how far it would have gone. I noticed University Police presence during the counter-protest, so naturally that made me a bit uneasy. Would UPD eventually have to break up a fight? It was about five churchgoers and a crowd of way more than 30 college students.

Now I'm not saying anything negative about anyone who did play a large role in the counter-protest at Purchase -- in fact, my band's bassist dressed up as Jesus and led the entire crowd on a few laps around the campus, and I loved seeing that, albeit I politely declined an invitation to join them.

But my opinion is that when it comes to active counter-protesting, I believe that it should be conducted in a peaceful, organized manner that has an apparent goal: to change minds and express opposing opinions to better the other side. Grab a bible and find verses that deconstruct their religious views because their judgment of alternative lifestyles isn't explicit in their own religious text, but it's all their own interpretation. You probably won't get them to completely give up on their philosophies, but maybe they'll be convinced that they should leave you alone.

I'm all for everyone stripping down, making out and dancing around in the freezing cold, because it makes a statement, but is it the one you need to make at that moment?

And the same goes for what happened in Anaheim. Does attacking KKK members with 2x4's and lead pipes really help anything? Apparently not. All it did was get three people stabbed, and 13 arrested with seven facing charges for assault.

I've been to my own fair share of demonstrations at Purchase, I attended a Black Lives Matter rally last semester, and recently went to -- and spoke at -- a rally demanding that Governor Cuomo end tuition hikes. I attended both of these, while noticing criticism of the rallies on social media. I recall seeing posts on Yik Yak calling everyone at the tuition rally "morons" for skipping the classes they paid for, to demand that they don't have to pay as much for said classes.

Well, do you have a better idea? I don't see you publicly pitching ideas as to how we can garner attention from various news outlets, and direct it all toward our political leaders because we all have a common interest about something that needs to be changed. I posted a picture of the tuition rally on Instagram and NBC New York asked if they could use it for their report.

People also questioned the purpose of Purchase's Black Lives Matter rally following the incident at the University of Missouri. They asked, "Why did you have it on the campus and not in front of somewhere with racist people?" Because there's a chance it would have devolved into some kind of hostile interaction with an actively opposed side. It was about showing solidarity and support for the minority communities in colleges across the country as well as within the confines of our own campus, not about calling out specific people on racism.

My personal experience with social activism was a bit slow to develop. I went to a pretty liberal high school in New York City, so my school happened to be at the forefront of social activism in the Brooklyn/ Lower Manhattan area, organizing walkouts and even die-in's across the Brooklyn Bridge to City Hall with NYPD escorts to make sure it remained peaceful. I check in with what's going on nowadays, and the high school I attended continues to be a driving force behind social activism for feminism, racial equality and other issues.

Because of the company I took, and the way I was back then, it all seemed like a load of bunk to me and I didn't want to be involved. But after coming to an even more liberal community like Purchase, I can't help but be moved by so many people standing together for a cause they believe in, and realizing that what I do to support their causes matters. This college has begun to help me grow as a person, and take part in social issues, even if it means not agreeing with how others choose to go about their protests and demonstrations.

If someone's way of rallying support for a cause doesn't make sense to you, don't anonymously call them all "morons" on social media. Get off your ass and come up with a way that makes sense to you, or just don't say anything, because clearly you're not helping. But there's absolutely no reason why a peaceful protest should break down into senseless violence because that's like taking one step forward and two steps back. There's got to be a middle ground somewhere -- take the philosophies of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, both going in different directions to achieve what is essentially the same goal. There has to be a way to foster a sense of unity and empowerment among people of color, without the need for violence, or is violence necessary and we've got it all backwards?

And while I'm going even deeper down the proverbial "rabbit hole", does this imply that we as humans are innately violent? -- Do we all have the natural desire to resolve conflict with hostility? Or did we learn to do that?

Think of these on a grander scale -- wars being fought over natural resources, control of land, race and religion. It only ends one of two ways. Either some legal document is typed up, or everyone dies and whoever's left wins. Think how much farther societies around the world may progress if they settled conflict with discussion and debate rather than by going to war with each other.

On that note, I'm ending with an excerpt from an episode of Doctor Who that very much resonated with me because of its relevance to modern political strife. In "The Zygon Inverson" (S9E08), Peter Capaldi cements his role as The Doctor with a captivating and emotional slew of lines about the futility of war, and how it always brings people back to just having to talk it out, because in the end -- everyone pays the price for violence.

"You just want cruelty to beget cruelty. You're not superior to people who were cruel to you, you're just a whole bunch of new cruel people. A whole bunch of new cruel people, being cruel to some other people, who end up being cruel to you. The only way anyone can live in peace, is if they're prepared to forgive... When you fire that first shot, no matter how right you feel, you have no idea who's going to die. You don't know whose children are going to scream and burn, how many hearts will be broken, how many lives shattered, how much blood will be spilled until everybody does what they were always gonna have to do from the very beginning: SIT! DOWN! AND TALK! Listen to me, listen, I just, I just want you to think. Do you know what thinking is? It’s just a fancy word for changing your mind."

So consider this -- What may be the most effective form of protest? Is it dependent upon the context/cause? What role does violence play in protest? Does violent protest reflect what we've grown to become as a society, or is it a reflection of human instinct? Do the values of figures like MLK, Malcolm X, Ghandi, and Henry David Thoreau still hold up in today's society?