As Washington, D.C., celebrates the nation’s 250th anniversary with multiple events on the National Mall, the white supremacist group Patriot Front marched on the Capitol on Saturday.
What You Need To Know
- As Washington, D.C., celebrates the nation’s 250th anniversary with multiple events on the National Mall, the white supremacist group Patriot Front marched on the Capitol on Saturday
- A handful of news outlets reported a group of masked men carrying American and Confederate flags
- The Washington Post reported they chanted, ‘Reclaim America!’”
- The Southern Poverty Law Center, Anti-Defamation League and George Washington University Program on Extremism have labeled Patriot Front a white nationalist or white supremacist group
A handful of news outlets reported a group of masked men carrying American and Confederate flags. Mitchell Miller, a reporter for radio station WTOP, posted video to his X account.
The Washington Post reported that “hundreds of uniformed members of what appeared to be Patriot Front, a white supremacist group, marched through the city and toward the Capitol. Their faces covered in white masks, the men carried shields, drums and flags — some upside down, others Confederate — as they chanted, ‘Reclaim America!’”
The X account Patriot Takes, which monitors right-wing extremism, estimated the group at about 400 people.
Reuters posted a handful of photos of Patriot Front members in a Metro subway station Saturday wearing balaclavas and beige baseball caps. One image shows a Black woman on board the train sitting by herself but surrounded by members of the group.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, Anti-Defamation League and George Washington University Program on Extremism have labeled Patriot Front a white nationalist or white supremacist group.
According to SPLC, Patriot Front is a hate group that broke off from the fascist group Vanguard America following the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, which brought together white supremacists, neo-Nazis and Klansmen and led to the death of a protester and injury of 35 people when a neo-Nazi drove his car into the crowd.
The group’s website is topped with the slogan “life, liberty, victory” and describes its mission as “a hard reset on the nation we see today — a return to the traditions and virtues of our forefathers.”
The Metropolitan Police Department told Spectrum News it “is tracking First Amendment activities that occurred this morning in the Eastern Market neighborhood. MPD recognizes the rights of individuals to peacefully express their views and remains committed to maintaining public safety and security for DC residents and visitors.”
