CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (Dispatches) -- Several Ku Klux Klan opponents have been arrested at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Dozens of Klan members were protesting against a city council decision to remove a statute honoring Confederate General Robert E. Lee.
The group was guarded by scores of police but outnumbered by hundreds of counter-demonstrators who waved signs denouncing racism.
The anti-KKK protesters raised their voices in chants and shouts, drowning out speeches from the white supremacists, live video feeds on social media showed.
"It’s an open-carry state, so our members will be armed,” said James Moore, a member of the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, which is headquartered in Pelham, N.C., near the Virginia border.
At least one person who participated in the Klan rally against the statute removal could be seen with a holstered pistol.
Confederacy statues and flags have been removed from public spaces across the United States since 2015, after a white supremacist murdered nine black parishioners at a South Carolina church.
Critics of the monuments say they foster racism by celebrating leaders of the Confederacy in the pro-slavery South during the U.S. Civil War. Supporters say they represent an indelible part of U.S. history and part of regional heritage.
The University of Virginia issued a statement condemning the KKK and urging members of the university community to avoid confrontation and support the other events.
"We want them to know there’s no platform for white supremacy,” said Grace Aheron, who works for a nonprofit organization in Charlottesville.
"They say to ignore them and that they’re just a small group, but we’ve watched the rise of many people, including our current president, who hold many similar views. It’s enraging that the city would give a permit to a known terrorist organization.”