Counterprotesters descend on US capital as far right holds ‘Unite the Right 2’ a year after fatal Charlottesville rally.

by Laurin-Whitney Gottbrath

10 hours ago

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Washington, DC – Thousands of anti-fascist and anti-racist protesters descended on the US capital to counter a far-right rally, one year after the first “Unite the Right” in Charlottesville, Virginia turned deadly.

Counterdemonstrators far outnumbered the two dozen or so Unite the Right protesters who made their way on Sunday to Lafayette Park, located just outside the White House grounds. The gathering lasted briefly before its participants were driven away by white vans.

The small protest capped off a day full of rallies and marches, organised by anti-racist and anti-fascist groups throughout Washington, DC.

In Freedom Plaza, rally-goers held a moment of silence to remember 32-year-old Heather Heyer who was killed one year ago when a far-right protester rammed his carinto a crowd of counterdemonstrators. James Alex Fields Jr, the accused driver, has since been charged on several counts, including federal hate crimes.

Last year’s attack also injured dozens, including Constance Young, an organiser with the Shut it Down DC activist group, which helped organise the Still Here, Still Present rally in Freedom Plaza. Prior to Sunday’s protest, Young told Al Jazeera that she found it “absolutely heinous” that white supremacists were able to gather under the Unite the Right banner for a second year, especially after what happened last August.

“It’s scary,” she said. “It makes me feel deeply disturbed that they will be right outside of the White House, but where they are in physical proximity to our president or to this administration isn’t really the biggest issue; It’s that they feel emboldened to convene again.”

Damshia King, a 44-year-old mother from Washington, DC, brought her 20 and 16-year-old sons to the Freedom Plaza rally.

“For me, growing up in a euphoric area and the DC area having so much diversity, inclusion, as well as engagement, and now it’s just a strife separation between races, religions, as well as how people feel about the administration,” King told Al Jazeera.

She added that allowing the far right to rally outside the White House, “gives them the freedom to think it’s OK”.

Meanwhile, members of Black Lives Matter DC (BLM) shouted “fight back” and other chants as they marched outside Lafayette Park.

“There’s a lot of oppression and resistance going on in this country,” said Brandon Iracks-Edelin, a 22-year-old from Washington, DC who marched in solidarity with BLM. “This country has been built off of that,” he told Al Jazeera.

“This country is not post-racial … [today’s far-right] rally, shows it’s systemic, institutional and intentional.”

Other groups, including Future is Feminist, ANSWER Coalition and the United Methodist Church, also held counterprotests, marches and rallies throughout the city.

There were minor scuffles between police and counterprotesters as Unite the Right participants marched into Lafayette Park, but the event passed without any major incidents.

Alt-right fractured

According to local media, Jason Kessler, the Unite the Right’s organiser, admitted this year’s rally was a failure due, in part, to the infighting of the alt-right, a loosely knit coalition of white nationalist, white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups.

Kessler’s two dozen supporters were a far cry from the 300 to 400 permitted to attend.

“Now people are afraid to stand up for their rights,” Kessler told reporters.

After last year’s deadly event, several far-right groups sought to distancethemselves from the alt-right. A number of universities also cancelled speaking events for leading alt-right members, many far-right individuals were kicked off of social media platforms and cities pulled or reject permits for similar right-wing protests.

Unite the right demonstrators march under police protection to Lafayette Square ⁦@AJEnglish⁩ ⁦@AJENews⁩pic.twitter.com/WCRN2DyAUE

— John Hendren (@johnhendren) August 12, 2018

Prior to the rally, Richard Spencer, the leader of the alt-right, said he would not attend Sunday’s event, tweeting that the protest “does not make sense at this time”.

“I don’t know exactly what will happen,” he added in a tweet prior to the event, “but it will not be good”.

US President Donald Trump, who was heavily criticised for his response to last year’s Unite the Right, came under fire again on Saturday after he condemned “all types of racism and acts of violence” without specifically mentioning neo-Nazis or white supremacists.

On Twitter, the Southern Poverty Law Center watchdog group called the comments “too little … too late”.

Too little: “There is blame on both sides.” — President Trump, Aug. 2017

Too late: “I condemn all types of racism and acts of violence.” — President Trump, Aug. 2018 pic.twitter.com/sz8Yq0kZIB

— Southern Poverty Law Center (@splcenter) August 11, 2018

Others said his tweet in advance of Sunday’s rallies showed that he again is playing “both sides”.

“He’s still doing that ‘both sides’ thing, which sounds fine on the face of it – to people who are willing & able to forget that one side is nazis & pro-slavery thugs,” tweeted Andrew Stroehlein, the European director  at Human Rights Watch.

This seems a little too coherently scripted for Trump to have written it alone, but the general point is true: he’s still doing that “both sides” thing, which sounds fine on the face of it – to people who are willing & able to forget that one side is nazis & pro-slavery thugs. https://t.co/JRTg5KPbxs

— Andrew Stroehlein (@astroehlein) August 12, 2018

Back in Washington, DC, Michelle Styczynski, an organiser with Shut it Down DC, said Sunday’s high turnout at the counterprotests and rallies, “symbolises that people will not tolerate white supremacy and hate and violence”.

“When you organise and come together, that message can drown out the voices of hate,” she told Al Jazeera.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA NEWS