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White Lives Matter met with clashing protesters in Austin

A large group of protesters marched through the streets of Austin after gathering to rally Saturday against a White Lives Matter event outside the Capitol in Austin.

<p>White Lives Matter protesters met with counter protesters outside Texas Capitol. </p>

AUSTIN, Texas -- A large group of protesters marched through the streets of Austin after gathering to rally Saturday against a White Lives Matter event outside the Capitol in Austin.

At the height of the protests, riot police, state troopers and other law enforcement lined the streets to monitor the clashing rallies, which remained peaceful.

The "Justice Under the Law" rally started at noon Saturday, not long after the unveiling of the Texas African-American History Memorial in the same area.

According to a Facebook event page set up by "White Lives Matter Too," the rally was set up to protest the application of hate crimes. A banner posted on the invite reads "prosecute black hate crimes."

Outside the Capitol, the group of nine to 10 White Lives Matter protesters were met by members of Stop Fascism Austin. The counter-protesters largely outnumbered the original rally.

A Facebook event page was set up by counter-protesters, asking people to organize and rally against "neo-Nazis."

"We're going to turn out in overwhelming numbers, drown out their message of hate, and show them the people of Austin will not stand for fascists organizing on our streets," read a post on the page. "Come out, bring your friends and a mask, and give them no platform!"

The unveiling of the Texas African-American History Memorial also happened outside the Capitol earlier in the morning. The memorial is the result of more than two decades of efforts by lawmakers.

According to organizers of the White Lives Matter protest, the rally wasn't intentionally scheduled the same day as the unveiling.

KVUE contributed to this report

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