Hundreds of masked members of the white supremacist group Patriot Front marched through Washington, D.C., on Independence Day, carrying Confederate flags and anti-immigrant messages as President Donald Trump’s Freedom 250 celebration marked the nation’s 250th anniversary.
The group was photographed gathering at the Eastern Market Metro station before traveling through the capital, alarming passengers and bystanders. Videos shared online also showed members marching through Capitol Hill neighborhoods carrying upside-down American flags and Confederate banners while chanting nationalist slogans.
The demonstration coincided with Trump’s “Salute to America Celebration & Fireworks” on the National Mall, where the president was scheduled to deliver remarks as part of the Freedom 250 festivities.
WTOP reporter Mitchell Miller shared video of the group gathering near Union Station, writing that the masked marchers carried Confederate flags and called for “reclaiming the country” and removing immigrants from the United States.
According to the George Washington University Program on Extremism, Patriot Front was founded in 2017 following the deadly Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The organization promotes an ultranationalist ideology centered on creating a white ethnostate in the United States.
The Anti-Defamation League also identifies Patriot Front as a white supremacist group that split from Vanguard America after the Charlottesville rally. The organization says Patriot Front frequently uses patriotic imagery and symbolism in an effort to repackage and normalize white supremacist ideology.
The July 4 march comes just months after another Patriot Front demonstration in Washington. In January, approximately 100 members, led by founder Thomas Rousseau, marched along the National Mall during the March for Life while Vice President JD Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson addressed attendees. The group wore matching blue jackets, khaki pants, baseball caps, and white face coverings as Metropolitan Police Department officers escorted the march on bicycles.
@cnn White supremacist group Patriot Front is building and training at a hidden compound. CNN’s Rob Picheta tracked down the location and traveled to Tennessee to learn more. #news #cnn
The latest demonstration drew renewed criticism from civil rights organizations, which have repeatedly warned that Patriot Front continues to stage highly coordinated public marches designed to spread racist and extremist messaging while concealing the identities of its members.
Photo courtesy of social media
