White supremacists were protesting the recent removal of the Confederate flag from South Carolina State House grounds.
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A giant Confederate battle flag that had long flown outside the Statehouse was ceremoniously taken down July 10 after South Carolina legislators, after much debate, voted to remove it.
Cars are seen driving away and the crowd of shouting black men, many shirtless, begins to scatter towards the end of the 28-second video when police sirens are heard.
Officer Leroy Smith was working at the rally last weekend helping with crowd control when a KKK protester asked him to help two men who appeared to be suffering from heat-related issues.
A photo from the rally outside South Carolina State House has gone viral on social media. The older man, pictured wearing a National Socialist Movement t-shirt, is said to have been struggling in the scorching Columbia heat when Smith went to his aid.
Despite the high tensions between the two groups, no one was physically injured, but five people were arrested Saturday, according to public safety spokeswoman Sherri Iacobelli.
“I honestly just wanted to be amusing”, Buck said.
A heavy law enforcement presence helped to control the crows. But now that it has, he is hoping it will be a catalyst for people to work toward overcoming hatred and violence.
Smith, who now serves as director of the South Carolina Department of Public Safety, has been in law enforcement for 25 years and is receiving accolades from across the world for his professionalism and service, according to CBS News.
The flag originally represented the southern slave-holding states during the American Civil War and was most recently linked to man accused of killing nine black people at a South Carolina church in June. At one point, police stopped a group of protesters from burning a Confederate flag that they had seized.
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The alleged shooter, Dylann Storm Roof, had posed with a Confederate flag before the massacre.
