Update 9:25 p.m.: There was one arrest in D.C. and no reported injuries throughout the day’s events, according to D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham. “Today was an example of a well-executed plan to safeguard people and property while allowing people to exercise their first amendment rights,” he said at a press conference.

A 44-year-old man was charged with assault for allegedly pepper spraying someone in face the 1300 block of New York Avenue NW. Newsham said that he was found in possession of a slingshot and other items that indicated “he was trying to hurt some folks.”

Fairfax County police also made one arrest earlier in the day, charging 30-year-old Donald Franklin Georgette, of D.C., with disorderly conduct, though the charge was later dropped.

Mayor Muriel Bowser declined to comment on the use of what appeared to be a private car for rally attendees, saying more broadly that “we feel strongly that [our approach] led to a relatively peaceful day.”

There was one incident in which a D.C. police officer deployed pepper spray at 13th and G streets NW, which Newsham said will be the subject of an internal review.

The city is still calculating the final total for the day, according to the police chief. “It cost a lot,” Newsham said.

Update 6:41: The Unite The Right 2 rally ended well before its original start time of 5:30 p.m. With the white supremacists gone and rain falling, most of the thousands of counterprotesters dispersed from the area around Lafayette Square. But some groups remain downtown, with rolling street closures in effect and reports of some skirmishes with police.

 

Update 5:33 p.m.: After reportedly being driven away in police vans from Lafayette Park, Jason Kessler and his small crew appear to be leaving D.C. via Metro.

Earlier in the day, officials with the Fairfax County Police Department said the plans for the group’s return are similar to what occurred this afternoon. Metro temporarily closed the gates to the Vienna Metro station as Kessler’s group was shepherded onto a private car that took them into the city.

Update 5:15 p.m.: Unite the Right 2 rallygoers left the scene well before the event was originally scheduled to begin. They were met by Antifa and other counterprotesters on their way out.

 

Mayor Muriel Bowser, who returned from a trip to El Salvador, said she is monitoring the events from the D.C. police department’s headquarters.

Update 4:37 p.m.: Although Unite the Right 2 wasn’t slated to start until 5:30 p.m., Jason Kessler began speaking early to the small assembled crowd and media.

Meanwhile, thousands of counterprotesters are marching in the vicinity as the skies darken.

And at 17th and Pennsylvania, a crowd of Antifa is gathered outside the barricades to one of the entrances to Lafayette Square.

Update 4:16 p.m.: Fairfax County Police Chief Edwin Roessler said that one arrest was made in the vicinity of the Vienna Metro this afternoon, where rallygoers attending Unite the Right 2 boarded a private car intended to keep them separated from counterprotesters. Police said that the suspect spit on two Virginia state troopers, and has been arrested for assault. It is not clear which group the suspect was with.

Update 3:39 p.m.: After arriving in Foggy Bottom, Jason Kessler and a very small contingent of rallygoers marched to Lafayette Square surrounded by a police escort and members of the media. The group of between 20 and 30 people is dwarfed by thousands of counterprotesters.

Still, the official rally isn’t slated to begin until 5:30 p.m., and it is unclear how many additional people might join them.

 

Update 3:05 p.m.: Unite the Right 2 organizer Jason Kessler has arrived in D.C. along with about two dozen rallygoers and a large police escort. Counterprotesters met them at the Foggy Bottom Metro station, booing and shouting many variations of “fuck you, Nazis.”

 

Meanwhile, thousands of counterprotesters are gathered and waiting for them at Lafayette Park.

Update 2:32 p.m.: White supremacists arrived to attend the Unite The Right 2 rally around 2 p.m. at the Vienna Metro station, where there was a heavy police presence and a contingent of counterprotesters.

Metro closed the entrance to the station temporarily. While the transit system said on Twitter that it “is not preparing a ‘special train’ for the private use of any group for today’s rally,” reporters have been documenting a concerted effort to keep the groups separate, including the use of private cars.

Metro’s largest union, which first flagged the transit agency’s plans to provide private cars, tweeted today that WMATA lied about their plans. “Make no mistake, this is special and unprecedented service given to a hate group,” said ATU Local 689.

 

Original: Though D.C. is no stranger to large-scale events and protests, there’s still an otherworldly quality to downtown D.C. this afternoon ahead of the “Unite The Right 2” white supremacist rally.

Normally bustling on a sunny Sunday afternoon, the Gallery Place Metro station and the neighborhood around it are unusually quiet.

A few blocks away, hundreds of people are gathered in Freedom Plaza for the “Still Here, Still Strong Rally” counterprotest that was organized by Shut It Down D.C., a coalition of D.C. organizations including the D.C. Antifascist collective, Hoods4Justice, March for Racial Justice, and others.

And in the heart of it all, Lafayette Park has been divided by barricades, with the section of Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House completely inaccessible to passersby.

The ANSWER Coalition started gathering at the other end of the park for a permitted counterprotest hours before Unite the Right 2 was expected to begin.

“We are close enough that we can make as much noise as we want and drown them out to the extent that we can,” organizer Eugene Puryear told the crowd. “And I think quite frankly we can just make them look bad by showing how many of us there are and how few of them there will be.”

In addition to the heavily police presence and hundreds of counterprotesters, a number of tourists continued touristing. An entire Segway tour even glided past barricades set up to the 15th Street NW entrance of Pennsylvania Avenue shortly before 2 p.m.

Meanwhile, Mayor Muriel Bowser has returned from a trip to El Salvador to monitor the rally and counterprotests. She plans to return tomorrow for the final day of her three-day trip.

Bowser also preemptively activated D.C.’s Emergency Operations Center to allow for better coordination among police and safety agencies. D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham has pledged to keep Unite the Right 2 rallygoers and counter protesters physically separated.

“When these two groups have been in the same area at the same time, it leads to violent confrontations,” he said at a press conference on Thursday. “Some may try to misinterpret what law enforcement is doing, but the ultimate goal will be to make sure that nobody is injured and nothing gets broken.”

Newsham warned that even those with concealed carry permits would not be allowed to bring guns to the rally or counterprotests.

Previously:
Mayor Orders Activation Of D.C.’s Emergency Operations Center Before ‘Unite The Right 2’
What To Know About Sunday’s ‘Unite The Right’ White Supremacist Rally
Here’s Where The Counterprotests To ‘Unite The Right 2’ Are Happening
A Brief History Of White Supremacist Rallies In D.C.

This story has been updated with the correct charges for Donald Georgette, and to note that the charges were dropped.

Filed Under: unite the right, unite the white 2,