Ku Klux Klan members will be armed for their own protection when they rally against the removal of a Confederate statue on Saturday, according to an organiser.

James Moore, a member of the Loyal White Nights of the Ku Klux Klan, told The Washington Post that Klansmen would defend themselves if attacked at the demonstration in Charlottesville, North Carolina.

“It’s an open-carry state, so our members will be armed,” he said, adding that he expected as many as 100 people to turn out in protest at Charlottesville City Council’s decision to pull down a statute of General Robert Lee.

It stands in a park that was once named after the Confederate general but has been renamed Emancipation Park.

The council’s plan to remove the statue has been put on hold by a court injuction. The legal case will be heard in November.

The removal of similar statues or Confederate flags has sparked angry clashes with different views about the symbolism of Civil War monuments.

Richard Spencer, a prominent leader among the alt-Right movement, has taken part in previous protests against the removal of the statue in Charlottesville.