Masked White Supremacists Storm Washington, D.C. with Confederate Flags on Independence Day
Hundreds of masked white supremacists invaded the nation’s capital, brandishing Confederate flags during the 250th Independence Day celebration.
The demonstrators sported hats featuring the logo of the Patriot Front, a white nationalist group established by Thomas Rousseau following the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, as reported by George Washington University’s Program on Extremism.
That rally saw counterprotester Heather Heyer tragically killed when a man drove into her and others.
Images captured members of the group riding the DC Metro. One photo shows a black woman visibly frightened as masked men occupy all surrounding seats.
The group shouted “Reclaim America” while marching from Washington, D.C.’s Union Station, as documented in a video shared on X by reporter Mitchell Miller.
Police were present, and National Guard members also arrived in the vicinity, according to Miller’s posts on X.
The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) monitored First Amendment activities occurring that morning in the Eastern Market neighborhood. MPD acknowledged individuals' rights to express their views peacefully while committing to public safety and security for D.C. residents and visitors.
This extremist group last descended upon Washington during the March for Life rally on January 23, where they were spotted carrying upside-down American flags.
In June 2022, over 30 members, including Rousseau, faced arrest in Idaho for inciting a riot during a planned protest of a Gay Pride parade. They were ordered to pay $2.7 million to black saxophonist Charles Murrell III after he was assaulted during their 2022 “flash” march in Boston.
The group also plastered New York City with banners and flyers featuring their slogans in 2020.
Patriot Front demands a “hard reset on the nation we see today – a return to the traditions and virtues of our forefathers” and envisions America as an ethnostate for white people, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
The Anti-Defamation League claims Patriot Front is responsible for the “vast majority” of white supremacist propaganda circulated in the United States.
