(there were a lot of violent anti-klan protesters trying to get access to the same area the Klan was having a demonstration promoting the recently voted and approved Proposition 2, which added another subline to the Texas constitution, banning anything "similar" to a marraige not between a man or a woman, I.E. civil unions, other kinds of things like that. Anyway, there were 3,000 angry anti-klan protestors, a few of them arrested, one with a weapon, trying to get there. The following story insued. btw, I think it is hilarious.)

AUSTIN — Three independent television producers have filed a federal lawsuit against the city, alleging it placed unconstitutional restrictions on media covering a Ku Klux Klan rally last weekend.

The lawsuit filed Monday by the Texas Civil Rights Project says the city censored the media by giving credentials to cross a police line only to outlets that had applied and were approved. Klan members staged the rally to support a proposed constitutional amendment on Tuesday's ballot that would ban same-sex marriages in Texas.

"Perhaps the most dangerous part of the whole episode, however, was the city taking upon itself to decide which media was legitimate and which was not," said Jim Harrington, director of the Civil Rights Project. "It is difficult to find any action more akin to government censorship than that."

Assistant City Manager Rudy Garza said the city modeled its credentialing process after policies in New York City and was intended to ensure public safety.

The policy required that media representatives either work full time for a news organization or have references from two outlets confirming they work as freelancers. The city approved 68 of the 71 credential applications it received, Garza said.