Unite the Right: Handful of White Nationalists Receive Extraordinary Police Protection

Washington, DC — Thousands of counter-protesters came out in force on August 12 for what turned out to be an anti-climatic showing of white nationalists for a much-anticipated White House demonstration. Jason Kessler, the man who organized the disastrous Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va. exactly a year ago, admitted Sunday’s event was a flop.

Thousands of anti-hate counter-protesters completely overwhelmed the two dozen or so white nationalists who ultimately showed up for Unite the Right 2, as it was called. Pent-up rage and grief at the death of Heather Heyer and serious injury of several others at the hands of a white supremacist who deliberately drove into a crowd of anti-fascists in Charlottesville a year ago was unleashed on the small cadre who dared to show their faces in Washington. Outrage at holding a second white supremacist rally on the anniversary of the Charlottesville trauma scared off most potential attendees. Some of those who did show up kept masks and helmets on to conceal their identities, and many people were too frightened to attend, they said.

In preparation for clashes between between fascists and counter-protesters, police staked out streets for several blocks in every direction, shutting down the George Washington University and downtown areas with barricades and dump trucks loaded with salt to prevent a car attack. Hundreds of additional officers were deployed in anticipation of clashes. A police helicopter circled overhead.

A broad-based coalition of mostly locally organized groups turned out to oppose Kessler. They included Resist This, Black Lives Matter (DC and Charlottesville), Black Youth Project 100, D.C. Anti-Fascist Collective, SURJ, Smash Racism DC, and DC Industrial Workers of the World. ANSWER Coalition and others organized a permitted counter-protest rally in a corner of Lafayette Square with police creating a buffer between it and the small Unite the Right rally.

Kessler’s group met at Vienna Metro Station in Virginia in the early afternoon, having arranged to board a bus to transport them into DC, but they were briefly left stranded when the bus driver didn’t show up. Police then ushered them into the station and onto a private train car. A member of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said it was non-union Metro supervisors who performed the special transportation service to Foggy Bottom Metro. ATU Local 689, Metro’s largest union, had earlier refused to provide special service for the Unite the Right rally-goers.

At the entrance to Foggy Bottom Metro Station, a huge crowd screamed and surged at the small contingent of fascists as they exited. Metropolitan police officers strained to hold back the angry crowd and the abundant number of photographers. They shepherded the fascists into an escort of dozens of officers walking bikes with an outer circle of motorcycle cops. A few of the white nationalists held cameras and video rigs and actively recorded the crowd around them, likely intending to document the anti-fascists protesting and reporters covering the event.

A contingent of counter-protesters had already formed at 17th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. and briefly blocked them from continuing on to Lafayette Park. Kessler and others huddled with officers with the Secret Service, which controls the area around the White House, appearing to confer on how best to proceed.

Kessler’s addressed the paltry number of his supporters in front of the White House, dwarfed by thousands of counter-protesters on the north side of the park. There were few opportunities for clashes inside Lafayette Park due to a 100 feet wide space police set up between the white nationalists and counter-protesters.

In the meantime, hundreds of black-clad and masked antifa arrived at 17th St. to block the fascists’ exit. Sometime after police made an attempt to clear a path, the white nationalists were spirited away by unmarked police vehicles to an undisclosed destination.

Protests, however, continued on for several hours, even after heavy rain caused many to leave. As night fell, police kettled a group of counter-protesters, arresting two. Police also pepper-sprayed some protesters.

Counter-protests were held at different locations throughout the afternoon. The largest was at Freedom Plaza, which drew several thousand people, who later marched to the west side of the White House. Black Lives Matter and Black Youth Project 100 led a contingent of about 1,000 mostly African-Americans to Lafayette Square and blocked streets nearby for about an hour. ANSWER Coalition and other groups held a day-long rally at Lafayette Square to counter the white nationalists’ message of hate and bigotry and to send a message to them that they were not welcome in DC.