The roughly two-dozen Unite the Right participants quietly walked through D.C.’s streets with the help of a police escort. “We think we were largely successful in making sure that those First Amendment activities were able to happen and we maintained peace and order in our city,” she said.ĭuring the Metro ride to the protest in the afternoon, Kessler told supporters and media that he thought “white people are a great people” and that they “need a civil rights advocate.” She said she couldn’t talk about Metro operations, but reiterated the how important it was for the safety of all attendees to keep the two groups separate.Įarlier in the conference, she congratulated law enforcement and other groups for keeping order, while allowing all demonstrators to exercise their free speech rights. Mayor Muriel Bowser dodged a question about whether the group was given special treatment at the Sunday evening press conference. Previously, Metro said there were no plans to provide a “special train” for participants, but would coordinate with other authorities to ensure that Metro riders were kept safe. Plenty of counterprotesters continued to shout their messages as they poured out onto H Street during the evening hours.Įarlier, the white nationalists got on the public transit system from its Vienna station, where they took a private car with a police escort they obtained through a permit. “We will investigate that incident to see if that use of force was appropriate.” One of the officers looked like he was being pushed up against the motorcycle and he deployed his pepper spray,” Newsham said. 12, marking the anniversary of the deadly “Unite the Right” events in Charlottesville, Virginia.“They got very close to officers. Photos of the rally, protests and events around the D.C. PHOTOS: White nationalist, counterprotester events in DC area Newsham also said that police used pepper spray on a group of protesters that had approached officers on motorcycles in the area of 13th and G streets. They found he was carrying a slingshot, shards of glass, stones and metal bolts. Police immediately arrested and searched Mulligan. Police Chief Peter Newsham said police arrested John Mulligan, 44, of Pennsylvania after he allegedly pepper sprayed the victim’s face, in a press conference held Sunday evening. They were then escorted onto the Metro before returning back to Virginia.ĭ.C. They were taken in vans after a deliberate distraction technique pulled attention to a different area of Lafayette Square. In fact, the white nationalists headed back to Virginia shortly after 5 p.m. police asked the groups to disperse around 5:30 p.m., when it became apparent that the white nationalists would not be performing their scheduled rally. The horses also received a round of applause as D.C. “I hope the horses get extra treats today,” one counterprotester said. Business & Finance Click to expand menu.
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