Topeka ? The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People hopes to have more than 500 people attend a rally off the Kansas Statehouse grounds to counter Saturday’s white supremacy rally, the president of the Topeka NAACP branch said.

“We didn’t feel we could remain silent because we have too many impressionable youth,” Bill Richards said.

Organizing a counterdemonstration on the Statehouse groups was Bias Busters, a group led by Topeka activist Sonny Scroggins. He described the white supremacists as domestic terrorists.

But Scroggins also criticized the NAACP for holding its counterdemonstration off the Statehouse grounds, saying the group’s members are “cowards.”

“What would Jesus do? Stand boldly. Jesus wouldn’t be around the corner,” Scroggins said. “They should be bold and stand boldly.”

Richards said the NAACP didn’t want its message to be lost in a confrontation.

“There will be a lot of shouting and carrying on,” Richards said. “We didn’t want to be any part of that.”

Law enforcement officials are hoping a series of precautions prevent any serious confrontations. Scroggins said he believes the rules have been applied fairly.

“I think the precautions are great,” Scroggins said. “I think they’re even and balanced.”