About 1,000 protesters gathered a few blocks from a white nationalist rally Sunday, far outnumbering the fewer than two dozen Unite the Right activists who walked to Lafayette Park near the White House one year after the deadly riots in Charlottesville, Va.
“We’re here to fight racism, and to let the racists know that they’re not going to overtake us,” said Karen Gillian, 53, who traveled from Maryland for the protests.
“It’s such an eclectic group of people,” she added. “It’s not just black people; it’s not just young people. It makes me very hopeful.”
Unite the Right had announced that 300 members would rally in front of the White House to protest perceived “civil rights abuses in Charlottesville.”
While that group was much smaller than expected, the fact of their presence energized the counter-protesters to gather from around the region to denounce the racism and fascism known to animate the alt-right movement.
Those assembled varied in age, geography, and race. Many carried signs, some bearing somber messages decrying the Trump administration and its policies, others taking a decidedly lighter tone. One man hoisted a large poster reading, “Make Tiki Torches Non Political Again” — a reference to the tiki torches carried by several white nationalists in Charlottesville last year.
A number of counter-protesters said they showed up in Washington to make clear that messages of white supremacy should have been silenced long ago.
“It feels absurd, I can’t believe we have to do this,” said Rena Finkel, 26, from New York City.
“We’re still trying to fight Nazis?” asked Alex McGraw, from Baltimore. “It’s really scary.”
McGraw said it was her first time participating in such a protest.
“I figured it was time,” she said.
The counter-protesters emphasized, repeatedly, the need to be a visible counterbalance to the hatred and fear incited by alt-right activists.
“If we weren’t here, all the cameras would be on them,” said Sean Kratovil-Lavelle, 17, from Kent Island, Md.
Kratovil-Lavelle said United the Right activists have become emboldened since the election of President Donald Trump so their opponents need to become more vocal.
“I am pro-free speech,” Finkel said, before the white nationalists gathered. “It’s American to let them have their rally, but it’s American to let us have ours and hopefully there will be more of us.”
The Answer Coalition, an antiracism group that helped lead the counter-protests, received approval from the National Park Service for a total of 1,500 participants gathered throughout D.C. on Aug. 12. The permit issued to Jason Kessler — the now infamous white-nationalist activist who organized last year’s rally in Charlottesville — estimated 400 participants.
Finkel, who had planned to be in D.C. Sunday for an anime conference, was dressed in a Goth outfit, but traded in her plans.
She noted that as a Jewish woman she was particularly compelled to speak out.
Her sign said it all: “If it were up to me, I’d be back at my dumb anime convention. If it were up to them, they’d murder my family. Disband the right.”
Holly Honderich is a politics reporter and a Master of Science Candidate at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. She is currently writing for Medill News Service in Washington D.C., and serving as a fellow at BBC North America.
Juliette Rocheleau is a video journalist and a Master of Science Candidate at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. She is currently reporting on national security and foreign policy for Medill News Service in Washington, D.C., and serves as part of the video team at CQ Roll Call.
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