(AFP) – A top US official on Sunday shrugged off a July Fourth parade by masked white supremacists in Washington as an example of “messy” democracy that fell under the banner of constitutionally protected free speech. “Certainly what they stand for is nothing that I could possibly agree with. But one of the foundational principles of the United States, which makes democracy messy, is free speech,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told CNN.
In striking scenes as Americans celebrated the nation’s 250th birthday on Saturday, hundreds of masked men carrying Confederate battle flags or US flags and sporting logos of the white supremacist Patriot Front movement were seen marching through parts of Washington, shouting “Reclaim America!” Wearing a uniform of tan pants and hats and dark blue shirts, and apparently led by the neo-fascist group’s founder Thomas Rousseau, the masked men crowded onto the city’s Metro system, gathered outside Union Station train station, and marched towards Capitol Hill.
Asked by CNN whether he would condemn the group and what they stand for, and whether he would urge President Donald Trump to do the same, Burgum couched his language carefully. “There are plenty of things that I see that I might personally find offensive, irreprehensible (sic). But in America, free speech is allowed” under the US Constitution, the interior secretary said, going on to decry progressive candidates who were running for election as “communists” in the United States.
Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department said the white nationalist group marched briefly through neighborhoods around the US Capitol and left the city before 11:00 am. “MPD recognizes the rights of individuals to peacefully express their views and remains committed to maintaining public safety and security for DC residents and visitors,” a police spokeswoman said in a statement reported by US media.
The Patriot Front was founded in the aftermath of a deadly “Unite the Right” rally in 2017 that brought torch-bearing white nationalists from all over the country to Charlottesville, Virginia. That rally culminated in an avowed white supremacist driving a car into counter-protesters, killing one woman and injuring 19 other people. Trump infamously took 48 hours to respond to the violence and then said there were “very fine people on both sides” of the protests, drawing widespread criticism.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, a legal advocacy group that tracks extremism in the US, describes the Patriot Front as a white nationalist hate group that “focuses on theatrical rhetoric and activism.” In a new counterterrorism strategy released in May, the Trump administration identified “violent leftwing extremists” as among three major types of terror threats that the country faces. This marked a break from the previous administration of Democrat Joe Biden, which had identified far-right fringe groups, particularly those espousing white supremacy, as a major threat.
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