Police line Brier Creek parking lots to keep protesters back from Sons of Confederate Veterans meeting

About 100 people marched in the cold Saturday afternoon in Brier Creek to protest an annual meeting of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

Posted 6:13 p.m. Feb 29, 2020 — Updated 12:10 a.m. Mar 1, 2020

RALEIGH, N.C. — About 100 people marched in the cold Saturday afternoon in Brier Creek to protest an annual meeting of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

After those opposed to the gathering broadcast their plans to protest, police set up a perimeter around the Brier Creek Embassy Suites hotel to keep the two groups separated.

According to the CSV, the annual event, called the Stephen D. Lee Institute, "assembles some of the best minds in the South to discuss important issues about our Southern Heritage." It has been held for about 15 years at different locations, including Dallas and Atlanta.

Organizers expected about 50 to 60 people to attend.

Scheduled speakers include Samuel W. Mitcham Jr., described on the event’s web page as a visiting professor at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and Carey Roberts, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va.