Denied a permit to march at Stone Mountain Park in Georgia, white nationalist groups were confronted by counterprotesters as they assembled at the park entrance, the Guardian and NBC News report.

The far-right groups, including Confederate sympathizers, white nationalists and neo-Nazi groups, hoped to gather at the site of a mountainside sculpture depicting Confederate generals R.E. Lee and Thomas Jackson, along with the president of the secessionist states, Jefferson Davis, as a response to a peaceful protest held at the site on the July 4th weekend by Black militia groups who called for the destruction of the memorial.

Rather than risk a violent confrontation, the Stone Mountain Memorial Association denied the Confederate States III%, an Arkansas white nationalist group, a rally permit.  The Black militia groups, which had planned to counterprotest at the rally, called on their membership to abandon plans to travel to Stone Mountain so as to not escalate tensions with the white nationalists and Confederate sympathizers.

Instead, the couple hundred camouflage-clad white nationalists waving Confederate flags were met by approximately one thousand protesters, including BLM members, at the gates to the park.  The counterprotesters were peaceful.

Stone Mountain, a predominantly Black town in Georgia, sent out a notification asking residents to no respond violently to the white nationalists.

“Please know that the city’s local law enforcement agency is managing the situation and has devised a plan for the protection of life and property,” the announcement continued. “Every effort is being made to ensure that any demonstrations conducted within the city’s limits are performed peacefully and without incident.”