Charlottesville rally organizer requests permit for ‘white civil rights rally’ in Washington – By Sophie Tatum (cnn.com) / June 21 2018
Washington (CNN)The organizer of the deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, last year has applied for a permit to hold a “white civil rights rally” in front of the White House in August.
The event application was filed by Jason Kessler, the organizer of last year’s “Unite the Right” white nationalist rally in Charlottesville that turned deadly.
Kessler requests in the application that the event take place at Lafayette Park, and the application states that the purpose of the event is for “protesting civil rights abuse in Charlottesville,” and expects “400” people to participate.
The dates requested by Kessler, August 11-12, mark the one-year anniversary of the events in Charlottesville.
The NPS has approved Kessler’s request, but has yet to grant a permit, according to The Washington Post.
CNN’s request for comment from the NPS was not immediately returned.
In an email, Kessler told The Post that he picked DC because he wants government officials to be aware of “the civil rights abuse by the Charlottesville government that led to the violence at last year’s rally.”
In August 2017, protesters gathered in Charlottesville over the potential removal of a Confederate monument. A car was driven into a crowd, killing 32-year-old local paralegal Heather Heyer, and injuring 19 more people.
President Donald Trump’s initial statement on the incident also sparked outcry, when he condemned “hatred, bigotry and violence, on many sides.”
