Counterprotesters outnumber, confront Klan supporters at Virginia KKK rally

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A Ku Klux Klan rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, drew about 50 Klan members and supporters Saturday -- and several hundred counterprotesters, authorities said.

About 1,000 counterprotesters were there, said city spokeswoman Miriam Dickler.

Members of the North Carolina-based Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan -- some wearing Klan robes and carrying Confederate flags -- arrived in midday to protest the city's plan to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from a park, one of several steps the city is taking to reduce its number of Confederate monuments.

Some Klansmen had said they would carry loaded firearms -- carry loaded firearms -- allowable under Virginia's open-carry law.
They were confronted by shouting counterprotesters as tensions ratcheted up and a large group of law enforcement officers, including members of the state police, set up police lines.

Police escorted the Klansmen through the shouting crowds to reach their designated spot for a demonstration: Justice Park, which until recently had been named after Confederate hero Gen. Stonewall Jackson.
After about 40 minutes, police helped the KKK members push through the crowd to reach their vehicles, Dickler said. Some protesters tried to block the Klan vehicles and police then declared the gathering an unlawful assembly, Dickler said.

As police began to move back toward Justice Park, a large crowd followed, Dickler said. There were a number of incidents, including the use of pepper spray by the crowd, Dickler said. When the crowd didn't follow orders to disperse, state police released three canisters of tear gas and the crowd left, Dickler said.

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