KKK, African-Americans clash over Confederate flag dispute

At least five people were arrested on Saturday as members of white-supremacist group Ku Klux Klan (KKK) and African-American groups clashed outside the South Carolina State House during a protest against the decision to remove the United States Confederate flag from the grounds.

About 100 members of the KKK and other white supremacist groups were met by around 400 African-American activists and their supporters outside the Columbia statehouse on Saturday. Scuffles broke out when a group of white supremacists, many carrying Confederate flags and one a Nazi flag, marched toward a large crowd of African-Amercians.

When the group reached the State House lawn, a scuffle broke out, and police moved in quickly to keep the fight from spreading. While no further violence broke out, the police had to separate people shouting obscenities at one another.

The state last week removed the flag from the capital grounds where it has flown for more than a half-century, after a gunman who took pictures of himself draped in the flag shot nine black churchgoers. Dylann Roof, the 21-year-old white man charged in the killings, appeared to have been heavily influenced by such symbols as the Confederate battle flag.

The crowd reached about 2,000 people at its peak, said Lieutenant Kelley Hughes of the state Department of Public Safety. Hughes said in late afternoon that authorities were still compiling information about the arrests, charges and injuries.

The Confederate battle flag has been a flashpoint for racial tensions for decades. Its supporters say it is a symbol of Southern heritage, while opponents argue the banner represents slavery and racism. This month, the state legislature voted to remove the flag from the State House grounds on July 10, 23 days after nine black worshippers were gunned down inside Charleston's Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Authorities have said they believe the killings were racially motivated.

President Barack Obama described taking down the Confederate flag as “a sign of good will and healing and a meaningful step toward a better future.”