a few dozen kook klux klan members and supporters shouted white power at a rally saturday in charlottesville virginia they protested against a city council decision to remove the statue honoring could federal general robert e lee the group was guarded by scores of police and charlottesville remains on edge ahead of unite the right rally white nationalists and counter protesters are expected to flood downtown charlottesville saturday as the virginia city braces for their unite the right rally by noon thousands are expected to gather in emancipation park where barricades have been placed in proximity to the statue of confederate general robert e lee the rally comes hours after a large group of torch bearing white nationalists marched through the university of virginia campus friday night outraged by the city's plans to remove the trace of its confederate past all right activists and ku klux klan members have come to the city in recent months the city has become ground zero for white nationalists neo confederates and all right activists from across the country protesting the removal of confederate monuments police anticipate the rally will attract as many as two thousand to six thousand people and could be the largest gathering of its kind in decades in the united states as described by the southern poverty law center approximately one thousand law enforcement officers and first responders including the largest deployment by virginia state police in thirty years will also be on site charlottesville city manager maurice jones said why charlottesville charlottesville home of thomas jefferson and uva is known as a quiet and progressive college town its population of forty seven thousand had eighty percent of its voters choose hillary clinton during last year's election in april the city council voted to remove the least at you but is on hold pending litigation two city parks that were named after confederate generals were renamed including emancipation park the site of saturday's rally saturday's planned rally has residents on edge and a group of more than forty local business owners near the park have asked the city to protect them i have a lot of i think most of us are just anxious we don't want there to be violence business owner michael wrote he said of the rally we don't want to see a bloodbath we don't want to see looting we don't want to see mass arrests we don't want to see the police to turn on citizens he added many businesses came together to discuss their rights and how to protect their staff in anticipation of saturday's event others expect to be under staffed with some planning to hand out water and sandwiches to police officers if diversity makes you uncomfortable this is probably not where you want to be reads a sign that hangs in the entrance of rogers business some of the medics are coming through right now you're going to be ok ma'am i'm going to be ok some of the medics are coming through right now celebrity or if they just slammed on the accelerator pedal was a high stress situation i do not know but you did see one woman who was inside a car that was really badly rear and then i saw at least one girl who seemed to get what the hell did you see who was driving it and what kind of car it was and i have a message to all the white supremacists and the nazis who came into charlottesville today our message is plain and simple go home you are not wanted in this great commonwealth shame on if you pretend that your patriots but you are anything but a patriot you want to talk about patriots talk about thomas jefferson or george washington who brought our country together you think about the patriots today the young men and women who are wearing the cloth of our country somewhere around the globe they're putting their life in danger they're patriots you are not you came here today to hurt people and you did hurt people but my message is clear we are stronger than you you have made our commonwealth