Steph Solis

USA TODAY

It's a stark image that caught some in Houston's Third Ward off guard: Confederate battle flags waving outside of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's Office.

Roughly 20 people showed up on Sunday, some with the red flag and assault rifles, others holding up a "White Lives Matter" banner, in a protest against the NAACP, according to local media reports.

"We came here because the NAACP headquarters is here and that's one of the most racist groups in America," Scott Lacy, a White Lives Matter member, told KPRC-TV.

The prime examples they cited were the NAACP's response to Black Lives Matter protests, protester Ken Reed told the Houston Chronicle. He said Black Lives Matter and other organizations have resulted in the "attack and killing of police officers, the burning down of cities and things of that nature."

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"If they're going to be a civil rights organization and defend their people," he said, "they also need to hold their people accountable."

White Lives Matter has formed as a directed response to the Black Lives Matter movement, a civil rights campaign stemming from 2012 that advocates against anti-black racism and is known for its involvement in protests against police killings of black men across the country. Some counter-protesters, using the phrase "White Lives Matter," argue that the Black Lives Matter movement is anti-white, which is inaccurate.

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The demonstration caught the attention of residents, but it was the display of the Confederate flags and firearms that stood out. Eventually, a group of black residents congregated across the street. An African-American man walked up to the barricade and began asking the White Lives Matters crowd questions, the Chronicle reported.

"But you understand more white people are well fed than anybody else," he asked the crowd. A White Lives Matter member seemed to agree. He responded, "Statistically," before being led away by Reed. "They're trying to ruin it," Reed told him.

By the time police tried to disperse the White Lives Matter supporters, Third Ward residents were pushing back against the protest, citing recent officer-involved shootings that have left African Americans dead.

Once the others dispersed, a group of African-American and white locals gathered in the parking lot of a church nearby. They prayed.