Hundreds of people gathered at a Ku Klux Klan rally outside the South Carolina statehouse on Saturday, opposing the recent removal of the Confederate flag.
But the message they were trying to get across was quickly undercut by the work of a black police officer.
The officer, Leroy Smith, is also the director of the South Carolina Department of Public Safety. He was captured helping an older white man who was wearing a shirt adorned with a swastika, up the steps of the statehouse to find shelter from the heat.
The image was captured and tweeted by Associated Press photographer Rob Godfrey and spread widely since being published with over 4,000 retweets at the time of publication.
“Not an uncommon example of humanity in SC,” Godfrey tweeted.
The KKK protest was paralleled by a Black Educators for Justice rally which was held on the opposite side of the statehouse grounds, bringing about 2,000 people to the statehouse between the two rallies.
WATCH: Footage of Ku Klux Klan rally protesting removal of Confederate flag from S.C. State House.
Several people there in support of the KKK carried the Confederate flag along the outside of the black educators rally and waved the flag atop the steps of the Statehouse.
Five people were arrested during the clashing rallies during “isolated fights and disputes when protesters clashed in heated exchanges,” according to a police press release.
Seven people were transported to hospital, according to police.
– With files from The Associated Press
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