Only Small Number of White Nationalists Attended Charlottesville Rally

White nationalists were outnumbered by counterprotesters, police officers, and the news media at the first anniversary of the deadly Charlottesville rallies, which were held in Charlottesville and in the nation’s capital on Aug. 12.

According to news reports, only a couple dozen supporters turned out for the rally in the nation’s capital. Jason Kessler and perhaps 20 fellow members of the far right — some wearing bright red “Make America Great Again” hats, some draped in American flags — marched under heavy police escort from the Metro station in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood to their barricaded and heavily protected rally area near the White House.

Counterprotesters hurled insults, waved middle fingers, and chanted “Shame!”

A similar situation played out in Charlottesville where few if any far-right demonstrators were evident. The most notable friction developed between left-wing protesters and the police, whose presence in the city was heavy and, some argued, heavy-handed.

Charlottesville police made only a handful of arrests, including a man and a woman who got into a fistfight after the man saluted the town’s statue of Robert E. Lee. The state of emergency was lifted by early evening, hours ahead of schedule.

The New York Times noted, “In Washington on Sunday, the far-right rally felt as though it was over before it had really begun. It was officially scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m., but the small band of extremists arrived early, finished their demonstration, and left before that time.”

News coverage on right-wing protestors, who marched in last year’s violent rally, were later identified online, and subsequently lost jobs may have diminished their numbers.