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DETROIT (WXYZ) - Less than a week after the violence in Charlottesville, religious and community leaders gathered Friday in Detroit to speak out against bigotry.

The country is seemingly divided after what took place.

Many folks, including a group of local clergy and community leaders, said they were horrified by these images.

"There is no room for white supremacy, racism and the KKK in America today," Detroit City Councilwoman Mary Sheffield said,

The group came together outside of the Plymouth United Church of Christ in Detroit to speak out against white nationalists and other hate groups.

"It's time to pick a side. Stand on the right side. The side that does not have Nazis," Rev. Greg Larson of the First Congregational Church said,

"We all have to stand up for justice and love," Sheffield said

WXYZ live streamed the press conference on Facebook and many people commented about the event.

Many of the commentators compared the Black Lives Matter movement to the KKK.

"Black Lives Matter is more about justice and equality it's not about hatred," Sheffield said. "And when you look at the KKK, you look what was taking place in Charlottesville, it was, to me, coming from a place of hate."

Other Facebook commenters questioned why religious leaders would make this political.

Reverend Nicholas Hood of the Plymouth United Church of Christ said it's not about politics, it's about people.

"This is about injustice and intolerance," he said.

More than 30 religious and community leaders are committing to work as advocates for peace and equality.

"We are together in hope that we are together in faith, that we are together in love. And that sometimes, that love needs to be strong enough to stand up against injustice in the world," said Rev. Dr. Stephen Butler Murray of the Ecumenical Theological Seminary.

"Take the ashes of Charlottesville and let's, as a nation, build something positive," Hood said.

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Gathering of Detroit clergy sparks debate over Black Lives Matter and KKK - WXYZ

According to tweets sent by Chicagos chapter of Black Lives Matter, the United States should ban all Confederate symbols in response to the white supremacist terror attack in Charlottesville, which left one woman dead and scores more injured.

The group, in a series of tweets, wrote, The fact that the Confederate flag & statues permeate the south is evidence that white supremacy was never overthrown in the United States.

Comparing Confederate symbols and monuments to Germanys ban on all Nazi-related propaganda, the group added, After WWII, Germany outlawed the Nazis, their symbols, salutes & their flags. All confederate flags & statue, & groups should be illegal.

The KKK & all other white supremacist groups should be illegal for the same reason Germany made them illegalfor crimes against humanity, the group wrote. The murder of Heather Heyer reveals white supremacists value no life, even white life. We must end white supremacy in the United States.

Charlottesville, Virginia, Black Lives Matter activist Lisa Woolfork gave an interview to Truth-Out on Monday, speaking about Confederate symbols in the United States as well as the domestic terror attack.

Woolfork told the website that there has been a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville every month since May, and added that many of the rallies focused on Confederate monuments.

About the monuments, Woolfork said, One thing that I like to impress upon is that I think it is very important to retain attention on the Confederate monument. Of course, many people are turning to Louisiana and New Orleans as an example of a mayor who decided to step up and say, No more. These are relics of a racist past and I want us to build a better future as a city. We do not need these any longer. They have outlived their usefulness. Charlottesville has not done that. They have not done a complete process of reckoning.

Black Lives Matter has been very vocal about the removal of Confederate symbols and monuments since its 2013 inception, and in June 2015, Black Lives Matter-related graffiti was even scrawled across various Confederate monuments across the U.S.

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Black Lives Matter: All Confederate symbols should be banned ...

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh speaks during a town hall event on June 1, 2017 in Boston. file Elise Amendola / AP file

"I didn't want them to get a permit, quite honestly," Walsh said, according to

The permit allows for 100 people to attend. Neither ANSWER Coalition Boston nor Black Lives Matter have acquired permits for the protests.

Walsh later told WGBH Greater Boston that hes confident there will be no violent repeats of Charlottesville, stating that he believed Saturdays group is not the same as those who appeared in Virginia.

This is the second rally planned by the Boston Free Speech Coalition. In May, the event was made up of self-described libertarians and Trump supporters as well as Oathkeepers and American Patriot Three Percenters the latter two groups attended the Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville.

John Medlar, one of the organizers, has told multiple media organizations that the rally is not intended for white supremacists, neo-Nazis or members of the Ku Klux Klan and has made it clear that the Boston Free Speech Rally is not for those who attended the protests in Charlottesville. He also claimed the event was for liberals and posted an email he wrote on Facebook that seems to indicate he invited Black Lives Matters Boston chapter to send a speaker.

NBC News was not able to confirm the authenticity of the invitation.

We are seeing this kind of rebranding of what white supremacy is since Charlottesville, but we are not buying this at all, said ANSWER Coalition Boston organizer Kim Barzola.

A number of scheduled speakers who were supposed to attend right-wing firebrands Gavin McInnes and Tim Gionet (also known as Baked Alaska) decided to avoid the rally altogether in light of Charlottesville. Both have shared fears of being labeled white supremacists via social media and claimed to disavow violence.

Current speakers include congressional candidates Shiva Ayyadurai and Samson Racioppi as well as former InfoWars writer Joe Biggs. Kyle Chapman, a California activist who gained notoriety for bashing an Antifa protester with a stick and earned the nickname Based Stickman, will also speak.

Chapman founded the Fraternal Order of Alt Knights, which is to be the tactical defensive arm of McInnes mens-rights organization, the Proud Boys.

Nevertheless, Medlar maintains the rallys aims are nonviolent and will promote free speech for all except hate groups.

"We absolutely denounce the KKK, neo-Nazis, ID Evropa, Vanguard all these legit hate groups. We have nothing to do with them and you dont want them here, we dont want them here, Medlar said, according to

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Thousands Expected to Attend Boston Protests of Right-Wing Rally - NBCNews.com

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- A Black Lives Matter rally is set for Sunday, August 20th at the West Virginia State Capitol building.

The group C.A.R.E., or Call to Action for Racial Equality, is helping organize the event. Rally organizers want to distinguish this event from other recent protests.

"We'd like to clear up misconceptions of the rally because I think there are concerns that we are wanting to rally around the removal of the Stonewall Jackson statue, but that's definitely not what we were planning to do," C.A.R.E. executive director Gabrielle Chapman said Thursday.

Charleston Police Lt. Scot Blankenship told WSAZ the event will not be near the Stonewall Jackson statue. It will be on the other side of the Capitol building.

Blankenship said the event organizers have been compliant with police to plan the rally.

The event to discuss race relations has been in the works for months. It was originally going to be at West Virginia State University. After the deadly attack in Charlottesville, Virginia, several different groups reached out to C.A.R.E.

"To give accessibility to other organizations, we decided to move it to the Capitol building," Chapman said.

According to police and event organizers, peaceful discussion about race is on the agenda. Speakers and artists will have the floor throughout the event from 5 to 7:30 p.m.

The Capitol grounds prohibit weapons of any kind. That includes sticks that are attached to signs. Police also said bags and backpacks will be subject to search at the rally.

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Black Lives Matter rally planned this weekend in Charleston - WDBJ7