KKK rally in Va. to protest Confederate statue removal; over 1,000 rally to protest KKK

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WJLA) - Dozens of Ku Klux Klan members, some of them armed with guns, held a rally in Charlottesville to protest the removal of a Confederate statue on Saturday.

But thousands of counter-protesters descended on Justice Park in Charlottesville Virginia.

Several of them were arrested for preventing KKK members from practicing their First Amendment Right.

Officers in riot gear created a safe space for their entrance amid heckling from the crowd.

KKK officials told The Associated Press they expected as many as 80 to 100 people at the rally and that many of them would have guns. However, no more than 40 of the armed KKK knights showed up to the event.

At the center of the demonstration was the Robert E Lee statue. There is a push to have it torn down. The Ku Klux Klan doesn't want that to happen.

In the crowd opinions about the statue were split but disapproval for the KKK was unanimous.

As for the statue, there will be a hearing come November. At which point, a decision will be made to take it down or leave it where it is.