The attack followed other acts of violence, including the vicious beating of one black Charlottesville resident, and a Ku Klux Klan member firing a gun at another black resident. Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/The GuardianĪ 21-year-old white man from Ohio, who had been photographed demonstrating with the white supremacists, was charged with murder and multiple federal hate crimes after allegedly ramming a car into a crowd of counterprotesters a year ago. “Very empowered,” said Constance Young, 35, one of the organizers of “Shut It Down DC.”Īntifa, opponents of white nationalist, holds banners during a rally, marking the one year anniversary of the 2017 Charlottesville ‘Unite the Right’ protests. But they said they knew how they felt, seeing the enormous crowd that had come out to protest made them feel encouraged and comforted. ![]() Some of the protesters said they did not know how Kessler and his supporters felt about the thousands of angry opponents. Cordoned off and dozens of meters away, too far to even see Kessler, a crowd of thousands of counterprotesters waved signs and shouted their disapproval. ![]() In Lafayette Park, in front of the White House, Kessler and his tiny group of supporters were taken away to their own distant corner of the park as they talked to each other in front of journalists. As he came up the elevators, he was met with hundreds of news photographers and a roar of outrage from protesters amassed waiting. In downtown Washington, police officers said they planned to clear part of the metro station platform to escort Kessler up to the street. A special car was prepared for them, the Southern Poverty Law Center reported. Kessler and his companions were escorted onto the metro. To protect their safety and that of others, officials had organised a special route for the parade. On his permit, he had estimated that he would have 100 to 400 supporters. ![]() Twenty or thirty of his fellow extremists had come with him. To mark the anniversary of his bloody, chaotic rally last year in Charlottesville, Kessler had secured an official permit to hold a rally in front of the White House. Heyer and her friends had been marching in a packed crowd of protesters, chanting “Black Lives Matter” when a car rammed into them, in what was widely seen as a white supremacist terror attack. The 32-year-old had been killed as the rally Kessler organized last year descended into chaos. “Heather Heyer!” people shouted at Kessler, as he passed protesters holding signs bearing her name. Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/The Guardian White supremacist Jason Kessler, center, and members of the alt-right march to the White House on the anniversary of last year’s ‘Unite the Right’ rally in Washington DC.
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