MADISON, Wis. -- Plans for a counter protest to this weekend's scheduled Nazi rally in Madison were announced at the state Capitol on Monday.

A coalition of groups -- including the Immigrant Rights Organization -- announced that it's planning an event on Saturday afternoon to counter the message of the National Socialist Movement. The coalition's announcement was made at State Street corner at the Capitol Square while supporters waved placards denouncing racism and homophobia.

The organizers said that the counter demonstration will organize at 1 p.m. on Saturday -- one hour before the Nazis plan a two-hour rally against illegal immigration at the Capitol, WISC-TV reported.

Jesse Zarley, a coalition spokesman, said the Nazi rally doesn't just target illegal immigrants.

"This is not just about immigrants," he said. "They hate lots of people. Then we need to send the message that Madison does not stand with that. And that we, in fact, want to demoralize them and block out their message of hate with our message of diversity and our anti-racist message."

The organizers said that they can't let the Nazi messages go without challenging them.

"To send a message to these Nazis and to the city of Madison with our numbers, our voices and our diversity, that the Nazis are not welcome in Madison. And that the immigrants that they've come here to target are," Zarley said.

The anti-Nazi rally's organizers said that they are committed to a peaceful protest, and they expect hundreds and possibly up to 1,000 counter protesters on Saturday afternoon.

A spokesman for the state administration department said that the National Socialist Movement has a permit for its rally. The spokesman said that the group's permit allows room to be set aside for their event, provides police and traffic support and access to a power supply.

He said that Capitol police plan to release details of their plan for the event late this week, but didn't return WISC-TV's phone calls on Monday.

The counter rally currently doesn't have a permit, WISC-TV reported.

Counter demonstrators said that they are asking nearby shop owners to display signs to get the word out about the counter protest.