(Photo by Anthony Crider)

(Photo by Anthony Crider)

An organizer of last year’s deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, withdrew his petition for a court order that would allow him to hold an anniversary event there next month.

The organizer, Jason Kessler, wrote on Twitter that he will be shifting all of his focus to the “Unite the Right” rally he’s planning to hold in Washington, D.C. next month.

Kessler withdrew his request on Tuesday for a preliminary injunction that would make the city of Charlottesville issue him a rally permit. The city denied the original permit request in December. Kessler sued in March, claiming the city was infringing on his free speech rights.

A counter-protester, Heather Heyer, was run over and killed during the original event on Aug. 12, 2017. James Fields Jr. of Maumee, Ohio, has been charged with murder in the killing, and faces dozens of federal hate crime charges in connection with the attack.

Kessler has already received initial approval from the National Park Service for a permit request for Lafayette Park, near the White House. A Park Service spokesman told WAMU on Tuesday that there have been no recent changes to the status of the permit. Rally organizers are scheduled to meet with Park Service officials next week to discuss the permitting details.

Kessler’s permit application says the purpose of the event is “protesting civil rights abuse in Charlottesville Va / white civil rights rally.”

In the permit application, Kessler also stated that “members of Antifa affiliated groups will try to disrupt” his event. Around two dozen organizations do plan to hold a counterprotest called Shut It Down D.C. The organizers include Black Lives Matter D.C., Maryland Antifa, and the Socialist Party of D.C.

This story originally appeared on WAMU.

Previously:
Local Groups Plan ‘Mass Mobilization’ Against White Supremacist Rally On Charlottesville Anniversary
There’s Already At Least One Counterprotest To The White Supremacist Rally
White Supremacists Plan To Demonstrate In D.C. On Anniversary Of Charlottesville Rally

Filed Under: charlottesville, unite the right, unite the white 2, wamu, white supremacists,