Martin Austermuhle
There was honestly no picture that seemed to fit this post, so we opted for this “Seinfeld” classic.
There are plenty of protests in D.C. on a daily basis, but this isn’t something you see too often—the white supremacist Aryan Nations has announced that it will march from Lincoln Park to the U.S. Capitol (Warning: link goes to Aryan Nations website) on September 22 to protest the “genocide” targeting white farmers in South Africa:
September 22nd will be the date and the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol will be the place. The activities will start at Lincoln Park at noon to muster for a march to the West Lawn of the United States Capitol in Washington D.C. to hold a day of awareness talks, protests and prayer vigils for the victims of a systematic GENOCIDE taking place against White South African Farmers by the black ruled communist African National Congress of South Africa. Since the ANC took control in 1994 over 70,000 Whites have been brutally murdered and not a single cry from the media, the United Nations or from a single U.S. President to stop the barbaric and vicious assaults on White Farmers.
An email to the Aryan Nations wasn’t immediately returned. More on their grievances is here.
Some Capitol Hill residents aren’t exactly happy with the news, and yesterday queried the Metropolitan Police Department’s First District listserv on what they plan on doing about it.
“There are many different voices and opinions within our society. Not all of these voices will be popular. However, all citizens within the United States of America have a right to voice their opinions and are protected by the First Amendment,” responded Lamar Greene, chief of MPD’s Bureau of Homeland Security.
“[MPD] will will be present with the expectation of peaceful, nonviolent demonstrations, regardless of the topic, for, both, the demonstrators and citizens in the area of the demonstration,” he said.
The last time there was a protest of this sort was somewhat recent—on April 20, 2008. According to the Post, a small group of neo-Nazis marched on Constitution Avenue and clashed with police; three anti-Nazi demonstrators were arrested. Before that, in 1999 a planned neo-Nazi protest was called off when only four people showed up.
If this actually happens, I’m curious if the protesters will understand the irony of their starting their march at a park that has a statue commemorating Lincoln’s emancipation of the slaves.
UPDATE, 1:10 p.m.: An unnamed spokesperson for the Aryan Nations emailed us back to say that yes, the march is on. They don’t know how many people to expect, but they have secured permits from MPD, the National Park Service and the U.S. Capitol Police.
UPDATE, 410 p.m.: We’ve posted the flyer for the event below. Additionally, the march will apparently end at Union Square near the Reflecting Pool on the west side of the Capitol.
