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| Opponents of a white nationalist-led rally marking the one-year anniversary of the 2017 Charlottesville ‘Unite the Right’ protests, form a barricade in downtown Washington |
A white nationalist rally in the heart of Washington drew two dozen demonstrators and thousands of chanting counter-protesters on Sunday, the one-year anniversary of racially charged violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.
A large police presence kept the two sides separated in Lafayette Square, in front of the White House. After two hours and a few speeches, the โUnite the Right 2โ rally ended early when it began to rain and two police vans took the demonstrators back to Virginia.
Sundayโs events, while tense at times, were a far cry from the street brawls that broke out in downtown Charlottesville a year ago, when a local woman was killed by a man who drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters.
โUnite the Right 2โ had been denied a permit in Charlottesville this year, but did secure one for Washington. Organizers had planned for up to 400 protesters.
At the head of the white nationalist group was Virginia activist Jason Kessler, who helped organise last yearโs event in Charlottesville. He emerged with a handful of fellow demonstrators from a subway station holding an American flag and walked toward the White House ringed by police, while counter-protesters taunted the group and called them Nazis.
Dan Haught, a 54-year-old computer programmer from Washington, was attending his first protest at the White House holding a sign that said โBack under your rocks you Nazi clowns.โ
โWe wanted to send a message to the world that we vastly outnumber them,โ Haught said.
Police said that as of 6pm ET (2200 GMT) they had made no arrests and would not give a crowd estimate. Late in the day, a small group of counter-protesters clashed with police in downtown Washington.
The violence last year in Charlottesville, sparked by white nationalistsโ outrage over a plan to remove a Confederate generalโs statue, convulsed the nation and sparked condemnation across the political spectrum. It also was one of the lowest moments of President Donald Trumpโs first year in office.
At the time, Trump said there were โvery fine peopleโ on both sides, spurring criticism that he was equating the counterprotesters with the rally attendees, who included neo-Nazis and other white supremacists.
On Saturday, Trump condemned โall types of racismโ in a Twitter post marking the anniversary.
ANTI-FASCISTS AND FAMILIES
Kessler said Sundayโs rally was aimed at advocating for โfree speech for everybody,โ and he blamed last yearโs violence in Charlottesville on other groups and the media.
He thought Sundayโs rally went well in comparison.
โEverybody got the ability to speak and I think that was a major improvement over Charlottesville,โ Kessler told Reuters. โIt was a precedent that had to be set. It was more important than anything.โ
The counter-protest which began earlier in the day was a smattering of diverse groups โ from black-clad anti-fascists, to supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement to families who brought children in strollers. Tourists took pictures and both protesters and observers zoomed around on electric scooters.
Sean Kratouil, a 17-year-old who lives in Maryland, was wearing a vest with โAntifaโ on the back and said he was there to help start a movement of peaceful anti-fascists. He said he was concerned that when rallies turn violent, it makes his side look bad. โPublic perception is key,โ he said.
In the picturesque college town of Charlottesville, hundreds of police officers had maintained a security perimeter around the normally bustling downtown district throughout the day on Saturday. Vehicular traffic was barred from an area of more than 15 city blocks, while pedestrians were allowed access at two checkpoints where officers examined bags for weapons.
Hundreds of students and activists took to the streets on Saturday evening. Many of the protesters directed their anger at the heavy police presence, with chants like โcops and Klan go hand in hand,โ a year after police were harshly criticized for their failure to prevent the violence.
On Sunday morning, activist Grace Aheron, 27, donned a Black Lives Matter T-shirt and joined hundreds of fellow Charlottesville residents who gathered at Booker T. Washington Park to mark the anniversary of last yearโs bloodshed.
โWe want to claim our streets back, claim our public space back, claim our city back,โ Aheron said at the park.
Charlottesville authorities said four people had been arrested on Sunday.
