Unite the Right rallygoers carried Nazi and Confederate flags in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017. (Photo by Anthony Crider)
Updated Friday at 3 p.m.
White nationalists are expected to converge in D.C. this Sunday for “Unite the Right 2,” one year after their rally in Charlottesville, Va.
Ahead of the weekend, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser signed an order to activate the District’s Emergency Operations Center as part of its safety plan. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam also declared a state of emergency to free up funds and other resources should violence occur.
District police and other law enforcement agencies are planning to keep opposing rallies separate in an effort to reduce the chance of clashes.
Here’s what you need to know about what’s happening on Sunday:
When and where will this rally be?
According to the event’s website, demonstrators will meet at 2 p.m. on Sunday at the Vienna Metro station to head into Foggy Bottom. From there, they’ll march down Pennsylvania Ave. to Lafayette Square where they’ll hold a demonstration from 5:30 to 7:30 pm.
Who is expected to be there?
It’s unclear exactly how many people will actually attend the rally, but event organizer Jason Kessler indicated in his permit application to the National Park Service that he estimates up to 400 people. Some white nationalists, including the founder of the neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer, said they will not attend the event because they think it will detract from their overall goals.
According to email correspondence released by the National Park Service through the Freedom of Information Act, there are several white supremacists expected to speak at the event — that includes David Duke, the former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.
How about counterprotests?
There are a number of counter-protests scheduled on Sunday (see a full list here). A coalition of about 40 groups, called Shut It Down D.C., are planning to hold a counter-protest starting at noon on Sunday at Freedom Plaza. The group is scheduled to march at 3:30 p.m. to Lafayette Square, where white nationalists will be gathering. As of Wednesday, more than 900 people said they were attending on Facebook. There will also be a Black Lives Matter DC counterprotest just north of the Square.
How are law enforcement agencies preparing?
D.C. Police, U.S. Park Police, and U.S. Secret Service will be working to secure the event.
While law enforcement officials said they can’t discuss specific measures on how they’re policing the event, D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham told reporters last week that he intends to have “the entire police department engaged to make sure that we handle this.”
He said the District has handled high-tension events in the past, and that police will make sure that opposing groups will remain separate.
“We handle this type of thing in the District of Columbia probably better than any police department in the country. We intend for these folks to come to express their First Amendment rights and to leave without incident,” Newsham said.
The Charlottesville Police Department was heavily criticized for its handling of security at last year’s rally, and the police chief resigned. An independent report about the event found that the police department was not properly prepared or trained to handle the hundreds of demonstrators who showed up.
How is this rally expected to be different from Charlottesville?
Last year, many Unite the Right demonstrators came armed with weapons and shields — Virginia law allows people to openly carry guns. But D.C. is really different, and has some of the most restrictive gun laws in the country.
Organizers with this year’s Unite the Right rally are telling people not to bring guns, shields, knives, clubs, or other weapons.
D.C. bans the open carry of firearms. It does allow people with permits to carry concealed weapons, but it’s illegal for them to be within 1,000 feet of a protest. D.C. law also bans a number of other weapons, including certain knives, knuckles and razors.
How will Metro stations and roads will be affected?
Some Metro stations in the area will be closed this weekend for track work, including Farragut West, McPherson Square and part of Metro Center. Blue line trains only operate between Franconia-Springfield and Arlington Cemetery.
D.C. police say a number of roads between Foggy Bottom and Lafayette Park will be affected between 9 a.m. 8 p.m.
Police say all the roads in red (see map below) will either be closed all day or have rolling closures based on police needs.
The map below also highlights the route rally goers say they’ll take. They plan to use the Orange Line to board at Vienna and exit at Foggy Bottom. They will then march along Pennsylvania Avenue to Lafayette Park.
This story originally appeared on WAMU, and has been updated.
