A sea of Confederate flags held by screaming Ku Klux Klan members fluttered in front of the South Carolina Statehouse Saturday, just as a counter rally featuring African flags on the other side of the Capitol wrapped up.
The Loyal White Knights of the Klu Klux Klan, based in North Carolina, vowed to protest the removal of the Confederate flag from the Statehouse last week — and made good on that promise.
About 50 members descended on the Capitol steps waving the rebel banners — at least one of which included a Nazi symbol — and immediately began shouting racial slurs at attendees of an earlier “Countering the Attack on Black Unity Rally.” Those protesters were moved behind barricades, a distance away from the Statehouse steps, where they yelled back at the pro-Confederate flag group.
Within about an hour, everyone was ushered away from the Capitol by dozens of law enforcement officers, many outfitted in bullet-proof vests, helmets and camouflage. At least one physical scuffle broke out, and some people who got a hold of a Confederate flag tore it into several pieces.
