Groups to Protest White Supremacist Rally : Simi Valley: Feminist, black and gay rights activists plan a counterdemonstration at a Nationalist Movement parade.

A coalition of feminist, black, gay rights and other activist groups from Ventura County and Los Angeles plans to converge Saturday on Simi Valley to demonstrate against a rally by a white supremacist organization.

Protest organizers predicted that a crowd of more than 150 people will attend the counterdemonstration, probably outnumbering the rally participants, according to an official at an organization that tracks radical right-wing groups.

Plans for the counter-protest were sparked by an announcement that the Mississippi-based Nationalist Movement will sponsor a parade at 1 p.m. and rally at 2 p.m. at the East County Courthouse to show support for the not-guilty verdicts in the Rodney G. King beating trial.

“The point is to get a large show of forces out numerically,” said Nancy Kato, a member of the Los Angeles chapter of Radical Women, a feminist group helping to organize the protest. “By a show of numbers, we’re saying, ‘You’re not welcome here.’ ”

Protest organizers said they aren’t concerned that their demonstration may dwarf the Nationalist Movement rally.

“I hope we completely overshadow them,” said Paige Moser, action coordinator for the Simi-Conejo chapter of the National Organization for Women, adding that she expects about 20 to 25 local NOW members at the counterdemonstration.

Other groups planning to send representatives to the protest include the Ventura County chapter of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People and the Metropolitan Community Church, a gay church in the city of Ventura. Several other local organizations active on behalf of minorities or gays have also been invited, Moser said.

Los Angeles groups involved in organizing the protest include Queer Nation, a gay rights organization; the Black Employees’ Assn., a 21-year-old labor union that mainly represents workers for Los Angeles County and has 5,000 members; and the Freedom Socialist Party, Kato said.

On hearing of the planned counterdemonstration, Nationalist Movement leader Richard Barrett said he is concerned that protesters may cause violence at what was planned as a peaceful parade and rally to “support law, order and justice.”

“We want people to hear the good things about the American way of life, such as the jury system,” Barrett said. But, “given the hateful and lawless nature of these groups” planning the counter-protest, the police should be prepared to protect his followers against violence or intimidation, he said.

An official at the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith, which tracks radical right-wing groups such as Barrett’s, also cautioned against violence at Saturday’s rally.

“Oftentimes, what happens in a counterdemonstration is they turn violent,” said Janet Himler, the league’s associate director. “Some innocent people may get hurt,” particularly police officers, she said.

A Simi Valley police captain said officials had expected protesters against Barrett’s group. But he would not specify how many officers will be deployed at the rally.

Himler warned that the counterdemonstrators may be playing into the hands of Barrett and the Nationalist Movement.

“They have the power of attracting attention to him,” she said.

Although Barrett has indicated to Simi Valley police that he expects about 150 people at his rally, Himler said she thinks that there will be far fewer.

“He really doesn’t have much of a following,” she said.

Clyde Johnson, president of the Black Employees’ Assn. in Los Angeles, said his group plans to protest peacefully. But he isn’t concerned that there may be violence at Barrett’s rally.

“So what?” Johnson said. “Look at the violence that was done to Rodney King.”