Geniuses like these might be around town tomorrow. But will they bring their swords?If you a see a tiny group of people aimlessly walking around Capitol Hill tomorrow yelling some nonsense about white power, don’t worry—it’s just the Aryan Nations and their few disaffected followers in town for what’s sure to be a bust of a protest.
As we reported a few weeks ago, the Aryan Nations will be in D.C. tomorrow for a protest against what the group says is a genocide being led against white farmers by the South African government. Supporters will be staging at RFK Stadium, rally in Lincoln Park and eventually end up at Union Square, where they will surely convince the masses that whites rule and everyone else drools.
There are a few counter-protests planned, including one led by a group calling itself Smash Racism that has embraced a “diversity of tactics” against the Aryan Nations and their fellow travelers. Police won’t say how many officers they plan to have on hand, but MPD Assistant Chief Lamar Greene told us that there will be a “sufficient deployment consistent with past deployments to this kind of demonstration.”
As the City Paper noted yesterday, such white power protests in D.C. have historically failed to attract many supporters. A 1999 protest only brought out four racists, while a 2008 demonstration attracted 35.
Martin Austermuhle