USA: Organizer of last year's fatal ultra-right march plans a reprise in the nation's capital

Jason Kessler, the organizer of last year’s ultra-right demonstration in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA, which turned fatally violent, is planning to hold another such event in August in Washington, D.C. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported the news on 21 June, adding that he has acquired the preliminary consent of the authorities to hold the event.

As of 22 June, permits for the event had yet to be issued. During last year’s demonstration in Charlottesville a 20-year-old neo-Nazi drove an automobile into a crowd of those counter-protesting the radical white nationalists who were demonstrating, killing one woman and injuring 20 other people.

US President Donald Trump subsequently earned criticism by saying both sides of the conflict had been responsible for the violence. Kessler has announced that he intends to hold an “assembly for the civil rights of white people” on 11 and 12 August in Lafayette Park near the White House.

The event will be held to mark the one-year anniversary of the march by right-wing radicals in Charlottesville. The National Park Service, which is in charge of administering different historical monuments, national memorials, national parks and nature reserves throughout the United States, has reportedly already given Kessler their preliminary agreement to his holding the event, although no permit for it had been issued when the BBC reported the news.

The ultra-right activist estimates about 400 people will attend the demonstration. He has also promised to collaborate with police on safety.