Kansas City, Mo. ? More than 200 demonstrators turned up to protest the opening here of an anti-illegal immigration group’s first regional conference.

The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps is holding a two-day conference in Kansas City in a show of solidarity with member Frances Semler, who attracted criticism from civil rights groups after she was appointed to a local parks board.

On Friday, protesters marched several blocks and held a demonstration outside the group’s meeting place shortly before the event was to begin.

The Minutemen routinely patrol the Mexican border – sometimes armed – looking for and reporting to Border Patrol agents people trying to enter the U.S. illegally. Other members picket day labor sites or construction sites across the country where they believe illegal immigrants are working.

Critics accuse the group of using racist language and intimidating Hispanics.

Charles Reitz, one of the protesters, said he marched “to stand up against racism and express solidarity.”

He added that he opposed the Minutemen because “they’re paramilitary. They’re building a resurgence of racism in the United States.”

Miguel Sanchez, a protester from Kansas City, Kan., said the group didn’t respect other people’s dignity.

Chris Simcox, the Minuteman founder, said such accusations against his group were untrue and that the Minutemen came to Kansas City “in peace. There is no hate here.”

He said he got the idea of the Minutemen after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, saying he wanted to keep out illegal border crossers. He was convicted in 2004 of carrying a concealed weapon on federal park land while looking for illegal immigrants.

Simcox said the group, which claims 8,000 members, is more angry at federal officials, who he said have failed to secure the country’s borders. He said American citizens and illegal immigrants were the victims of a “feckless, failed government.”

Kansas City’s relationship with the Minutemen began last summer when Mayor Mark Funkhouser appointed Semler to the city’s parks board. When her membership in the Minutemen was discovered, he refused civil rights group’s demands to either force Semler to resign or give up her membership in the Minutemen.

The National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic civil rights group, decided last fall to pull its 2009 conference from the city – which led Simcox to schedule a leadership conference as a sign of support for Semler.

Semler stepped down from the parks board earlier this week, citing what she viewed as a lack of support from Funkhouser’s office. But the group still stood and applauded when she was introduced Friday night.

“I have a new hero: Frances Semler,” said Simcox, who thanked her for her courage.

Semler told the audience that she joined the group because it “was made up of individuals dedicated to the ideals expressed in the Constitution of our country.”

She added that the group “is not a hate group of racists and bigots. … If that were true, I would not be here, and neither would you.”

But Caron Wells, who took part in the protest outside, said even well-intentioned people were tricked by the group’s pro-America rhetoric.

“They couch their hate message in such a patriotic way,” Wells said.

Jerry Davison, of Independence, who attended the event to get more information, disagreed, saying he knew many legal immigrants working at computer technology jobs in the area and he’s simply concerned about illegal immigrants.

“We’ve got to be able to control who comes into our country,” Davison said.