Mayor Jim Gray's proposal to remove two Confederate statues from Lexington's Cheapside Park and move them to Veterans Park is catching the attention of white supremacists.

Matthew Heimbach is the founder of the "Traditionalist Worker Party," which is listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Heimbach told WKRC in Cincinnati that he and other white supremacists are considering coming to Lexington to protest the removal of the statues.

Just last month, Heimbach pleaded guilty to disorderly conducted, admitting he shoved a female protester at a political rally in Louisville for then-Presidential candidate Donald Trump.

WKYT spoke with Unite the Right organizer Jason Kessler , who says he sought a permit to protest in Charlottesville. He says authorities need to keep both sides of the opinions separated for proper safety.

"Keep the different factions separate. That was the entire reason to have the permit. You know, if we had the permit, the police told us that we could keep our people in the park and keep the counter demonstrators outside in a different area," says Kessler.

WKYT checked with Lexington city officials to see what the restrictions are on protests. The city tells us, unlike in Charlottesville where a protest turned deadly over the weekend, protestors in Lexington do not need a permit to gather in public places. They can't block streets, sidewalks or engage in unlawful behavior.

The New York Times reports Lexington Police Chief Mark Barnard has been in contact with the police chief in Charlottesville to discuss safety issues.

"You'll have people feeling passionate wanting to come in, but you'll also have professional protesters who want to come in and fight. We'll be prepared for them also," Chief Barnard told The New York Times.

The conversation comes after Charlottesville's police chief expressed regret about what happened over the weekend.

"We had a plan to bring them in at the rear of the park. They had agreed to cooperate with the plan. Unfortunately, they did not follow the plan," said Chief Al S. Thomas, Jr. "Absolutely I have regrets. We lost three lives this weekend."

Chief Thomas is referring to Heather Heyer who died when white supremacist James Alex Fields plowed his car into a crowd of people protesting the rally. Two Virginia State Police troopers, Lt. H. Jay Cullen and Trooper Bekre M.M. Bates also died when their helicopter crashed while responding to the violence. Fields once lived in Florence, Kentucky.

"You can have as much intelligence about the groups and their past behavior, you can have all planning and all the training, but you can't predict what will go on," Chief Barnard told the New York Times.

Heimbach has not said when a rally in Lexington might take place. WKYT's news partners at the Lexington Herald Leader report Heimbach says the goal is sooner rather than later.