Brenda Arthur didn't let being outnumbered stop her from showing her opposition.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A crowd gathered in downtown Charleston Tuesday evening to support Syrian refugees being allowed into West Virginia.

The controversy surrounding the admittance of refugees has swirled in recent weeks, particularly in the wake of terrorist attacks in Paris about 12 days ago.

The organization called “WV Welcomes” staged the rally near the Kanawha River on the corner of Court and Capitol streets in favor bringing in refugees, holding signs with slogans such as “WV No Place for Hate” and “We Are All Immigrants.”

“We have an opportunity here to be welcoming of people that are in real terrible need,” said Ward 9 Councilwoman Mary Beth Hoover. “And at the same time, these are people who may come and build a productive life here in West Virginia.”

Dr. Sameh Asal, the Imam of the West Virginia Islamic Association, spoke passionately at the rally, believing refugees in need shouldn’t be turned away because of the horrific deeds of a few.

“We should not be penalizing the refugees in need for the actions of a few people who happen to be Muslims,” said Asal.

Brenda Arthur stood by herself on the other side of street against the bringing in of refugees; she said that if she had known about the rally further in advance, she would have brought a crowd of her own.

“Our country is being invaded by all kinds of people. And now our government is complicit in it,” Arthur said. “These people are not compatible with our values, our culture; our language. Even the part of the world they come from; the climate.”

Arthur was not confident in the United States being able to vet refugees that enter to rule out potential terrorists. Hoover had more faith in the process.

“I absolutely think national security is of utmost importance. But there is a vetting process in place,” Hoover said. “It’s easy to investigate what that process is. We have lawmakers acting as if it’s random and arbitrary when it’s not.”

One such lawmaker is Del. Joshua Nelson (R-Boone), who launched an online petition last week to urge Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin not to take in Syrian refugees.

The petition has received more than 15,000 signatures. Nelson also issued an open letter to Tomblin and President Obama, demanding that un-vetted Syrian refugees not be allowed to reside in the Mountain State.

Allie Mullins was of the opinion that denying refugees would be exactly what ISIS would hope to happen.

“These Syrian refugees deserve a safe place to go. I believe that us refusing to let them in is just letting ISIS get what they want. I really think they wanted us to stop refugees from entering our country,” she said.

A bill was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives to restrict the flow of refugees into America, which Obama has said he will veto.