White Nationalists Stage Anti-Refugee Protests in Tennessee

People participate in a "White Lives Matter" rally in Shelbyville, Tennessee, on Oct. 28, 2017.

About 300 white nationalists and neo-Nazis held back-to-back rallies in two small Tennessee cities on Saturday to protest refugee resettlement in the state, which sued the federal government over the issue earlier this year.

People participate in a "White Lives Matter" rally in Shelbyville.

The protesters started in Shelbyville then traveled about 35 miles north to Murfreesboro for a second rally. Both towns are near Nashville, center of a metropolitan area has become home to refugees from Somalia, Iraq and elsewhere.

A counter-demonstrator before the start of a rally in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. 

A man and a woman are wrapped in a Confederate flag during a "White Lives Matter" rally in Shelbyville.

Saturday's rallies were organized by the Nationalist Front coalition, which embraces groups considered to be neo-Nazi or neo-Confederate by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups.

A person thought to be an infiltrator is held by people participating in a "White Lives Matter" rally in Shelbyville.

Counter-protesters demonstrate during a "White Lives Matter" rally in Shelbyville.

The "White Lives Matter" rallies in Shelbyville and Murfreesboro, organized by some of the same groups involved in a Virginia march that turned violent in August, drew an equal number of counter-demonstrators and a heavy police presence.

A man holds a sign reading "It's okay to be white" in Murfreesboro.

Protesters shout at counter-protesters during a "White Lives Matter" rally in Shelbyville.

People salute during a "White Lives Matter" rally in Shelbyville, Tennessee, on Oct. 28, 2017.

Members of a white nationalist group called the Traditionalist Worker Party participate in a "White Lives Matter" rally in Shelbyville.

A member of a group called the National Socialist Movement participates in a "White Lives Matter" rally in Shelbyville.

Counter-demonstrators hold signs in Shelbyville.

People participate in a "White Lives Matter" rally in Shelbyville.

Counter-protesters demonstrate against the "White Lives Matter" rally in Murfreesboro.

In Murfreesboro, where protesters were prohibited from carrying shields or wearing masks or helmets, the rally remained peaceful, the city said on Twitter.

White nationalists attend a rally in Shelbyville.

A counter-demonstrator holds a sign that reads "Only love matters" before the "White Lives Matter" rally in Murfreesboro.