More than 1,000 people were in attendance when about 50 members of the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan protested in Justice Park on Saturday, according to a spokeswoman for the city of Charlottesville.

As of 6:15 p.m., 23 people had been arrested. Three people were taken to a hospital, two for heat-related issues and one for an alcohol-related issue.

The spokeswoman said Charlottesville police and Virginia State Police resources "were deployed to secure access to the park and ensure the safety of all involved."

After police allowed the KKK members to leave a parking garage, they began to walk toward Justice Park, she said, and a large group followed. After "a number of incidents," police used pepper spray and state police three three canisters of tear gas to disperse the crowd, the spokeswoman said.

Police and protesters have dispersed from High Street and Justice Park.

Police have used three cans of tear gas on protesters standing in High Street in Charlottesville following the KKK's departure from a protest in Justice Park.

Among those affected were several Daily Progress reporters and a legal observer for the American Civil Liberties Union.

The Charlottesville Police Department has requested assistance from the Albemarle County Police Department, University of Virginia Police Department, Charlottesville Sheriffs Office, Charlottesville Fire Department, Charlottesville Albemarle Rescue Squad and Virginia State Police.

Surveillance cameras were installed near Emancipation and Justice parks within the last couple of weeks, according to Capt. Wendy Lewis, and they are recording on a loop. Footage will only be viewed for evidentiary or investigative purposes, she said.

Having policed similarly large events, such as the Occupy Charlottesville protest in 2011, Lewis said Charlottesville police are confident they can handle the situation.

I think were very experienced at it, Lewis said earlier this week. We find it a privilege to be able to protect peoples right to assemble and free speech in a transparent way.

About 40 members of the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan rallied for less than an hour at Justice Park.

Protesters had tried to stop police from forming a barrier that allowed the KKK to enter their rally area. Several of them were arrested as police created a path.

At about 4:30 p.m., KKK members left the rally to head toward their vehicles in a garage at Fourth Street Northeast and High Street. Protesters gathered to confront them, but police told they would be arrested for unlawful assembly. At about 4:45 p.m., the vehicles left.

Civic leaders have planned events to bring the community elsewhere Saturday, but leftist activists have set up to directly protest the Klan rally at Justice Park, formerly named for the statue of Confederate Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson that stands there.. In the weeks leading up to Saturdays events, the city has been on edge, worrying about the possibility of violence between the Klan members and protesters.

On Aug. 12, a rally that will be attended by far-right and extremist groups that promote racist, white nationalist and anti-Semitic sentiments is expected to draw about 400 participants.

Some are looking at Saturdays event as a dress rehearsal for the Unite the Right rally next month in Emancipation Park, formerly named for its statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

The two rallies are being organized as a protest against the citys efforts to remove the Lee statue. Organizers for the two events see the possible removal of the Lee statue as an affront to White-European and Southern culture.

In a statement on Saturday, the Virginia Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans, which has opposed the removal of the Lee statue in a legal battle, said it "neither embraces nor espouses acts or ideologies of racial or religious bigotry and further strongly condemns the misuse of our sacred flags, symbols, or monuments in the conduct of the same."

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Tear gas used on protesters after 40 KKK members rally at Justice Park - The Daily Progress