Sunday’s counter group — made up of members of Showing Up for Racial Justice Charlottesville, Black Lives Matter and others — met to “outshine their torches with our love” and to send a message that “they will not come here to intimidate us unchallenged.”

“We will not let you come in and take over, and have your way,” Don Gathers told the crowd Sunday night. “I don’t care who’s in the White House, I don’t care who’s in Congress ... We are going to take control of this city and we are going to do it the proper way, the legal way. It might take six months to take care of this situation, but we’re not going to give up the fight.”

About 100 torch-wielding protesters gathered in Lee Park just after 9 p.m. Saturday, chanting “you will not replace us,” “Russia is our friend” and “blood and soil.”

In April, the City Council voted to sell the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee that stands in the park, but a judge earlier this month issued an injunction that prevents the city from doing so as litigation on the matter proceeds.