White Supremacists To March Near White House (ICYMI)

Editor's note: This article was originally posted earlier this week.

WASHINGTON, DC — The National Park Service has approved a permit for a "white civil rights" rally at Lafayette Square right across the street from the White House this summer. And it's being organized by the man behind the Charlottesville, Virginia, rally that turned deadly last year.

Subscribe

The rally would take place Aug. 11-12, the anniversary of the "Unite the Right" protest in Charlottesville during which one white supremacist drove a car into a crowd of leftist protesters. The event caused further controversy when President Trump refused to condemn the white supremacists who demonstrated.

Jason Kessler, who organized the Charlottesville rally and was later indicted on a charge of perjury, is behind this rally as well, according to a leaked copy of the NPS permit application.

The permit says the event would start at 8 a.m. and that a total of around 400 were expected to attend.

Under "purpose of event," Kessler writes: "Protesting civil rights abuse in Charlottesville Va / white civil rights rally."

The plan calls for meeting at a "rally point of convenience for law enforcement," and then the marchers would head to Lafayette Park to give speeches, and then return to the rally point with law enforcement.

The form has a section for listing any groups that may try to disrupt the event, where Kessler writes: "Members of Antifa affiliated groups will try to disrupt."

Three people died in events relating to the violence in Charlottesville. One of the victims was Heather Heyer, who died when a car driver plowed into a crowd of counter-protesters. Police charged the driver of the car, 20-year-old James Alex Fields Jr., in the accident that also injured dozens.

A few hours later, a state police helicopter that had been helping to monitor Saturday's events crashed in a wooded area, killing Lt. H. Jay Cullen, 48, of Midlothian, Va., and Trooper-Pilot Berke M.M. Bates of Quinton, Va.

Then-Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe directed the state to investigate how communities issue rally permits. The city had granted a permit for the "Unite the Right" rally. Similarly, the city also allowed other white nationalist gatherings to take place in the city, including a torch-bearing march in May and a Ku Klux Klan protest last July. All protests centered around the city's decision to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

The state investigation also looked at how prepared law enforcement prepares for such rallies and how local, state and federal agencies coordinate. At the same time, McAuliffe commended Virginia State Police and National Guard for assisting the Charlottesville. "Without their extensive preparations and measured actions, we would be facing a far more grave situation today," McAuliffe said in a statement.

Prior to the rally, the governor had urged people to stay away from Charlottesville, citing "extremist groups" that could become violent against rally attendees or police. Police had already declared an unlawful assembly before the white nationalist rally would have begun at noon Saturday. City officials wanted the rally to be held at a different location, citing safety concerns however a judge ruled that the rally must be allowed to take place at Emancipation Park.

"While we continue to grieve and support the families of those who lost their lives, we must learn from this tragic event to prevent a recurrence in our community or elsewhere," McAuliffe said in a statement.

Additional reporting by Patch editor Emily Leayman

Image via White House