At least 23 persons were arrested when members of the Ku Klux Klan rallied in the US against charlottesville city’s decision to remove a statue of Robert E. lee, the Confederate general.
Three people were also taken to hospital — two for “heat-related issues” and one for an “alcohol-related issue” — after more than 1,000 protesters on Saturday afternoon hurled insults, water bottles and apple cores in the rally, the New York Times reported.
Around 50 members of the racist Klan — some wearing hooded white robes — shouted “white power” at the Justice Park.
The trouble intensified when the Klan members, who said they came from North Carolina, began to leave and return to their cars after 4 pm.
City officials said a large group of counter-protesters followed them back to their vehicles and stopped them from leaving. Asked to step aside, the counter-protesters refused, a city spokeswoman said.
The police declared an unlawful assembly, and officers began moving the protesters back so the Klan members could leave. As the police returned to Justice Park, “there were a number of incidents, including the use of pepper spray by the crowd”, Miriam Dickler, a city spokeswoman, said in a statement.