Editor's note: This article has been clarified to reflect that there were more than a hundred people earlier this summer at a protest at the Confederate Monument in downtown Greenville.
When more than a hundred people came out to a protest at a Confederate monument in downtown Greenville earlier this summer, men with guns who called themselves a "militia" showed up, too.
As the protesters raised their voices to call for the monument's removal, a group of men stood nearby, holding rifles, sweating in heavy tactical gear.
And interspersed throughout, the uniformed police officers tasked with keeping the peace.
Though police made a few arrests that day, violence was not a part of it.
And yet, while a leader of a group in attendance said they were there to protect the protesters and help keep the peace, a protester called the men with guns an unwelcome intrusion.