A small rally of Neo-Confederates was overwhelmed in Richmond Saturday by hundreds of counter protesters. Police had prepared for the worst but the event ended quickly, and peacefully.
A pro-Confederate rally that had been scheduled for 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. ended before noon when the group left early. About a half a dozen of them spent an hour waving Confederate flags and shouting back and forth with hundreds of counter-protesters.
Officers were out in full force and had sectioned off assembly areas around Richmond’s Robert E. Lee Monument. Richmond resident Ian Dunwiddie came out to counter protest.
“At every access point to the Monument there were minimum ten to twenty cops and they were all super polite and helpful, and not discouraging at all. It was actually pretty pleasant out here today," he said.
The avenue remained shut down for much of the day. There was an almost picnic-like atmosphere among the lingering counter-protesters. In the afternoon, a group took to the streets and marched. Four were arrested for wearing masks.
