page_title: Unite the Right rally
section_title: 2018 anniversary rally
hierarchical_section_title: Unite the Right rally / 2018 anniversary rally
caption_attribution_description: In front of the White House at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington DC on Saturday afternoon, 11 August 2018 by Elvert Barnes Photography OCCUPY LAFAYETTE PARK &lt;a href="https://www.facebook.com/OccupyLafayettePark/" rel="nofollow"&gt;www.facebook.com/OccupyLafayettePark/&lt;/a&gt; Trip to Washington DC for Day Before Unite The Right 2 Rally / March
context_page_description: The Unite the Right rally was a white supremacist and neo-Nazi rally that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia, from August 11 to 12, 2017. Protesters were members of the far-right and included self-identified members of the alt-right, neo-Confederates, neo-fascists, white nationalists, neo-Nazis, Klansmen, and various right-wing militias. The marchers chanted racist and antisemitic slogans and carried weapons, Nazi and neo-Nazi symbols, the Valknut, Confederate battle flags, Deus Vult crosses, flags, and other symbols of various past and present anti-Muslim and antisemitic groups. The organizers' stated goals included unifying the American white nationalist movement and opposing the proposed removal of the statue of General Robert E. Lee from Charlottesville's former Lee Park.
  The rally occurred amidst controversy generated by the removal of Confederate monuments by local governments following the Charleston church shooting in 2015, in which a white supremacist shot and killed nine black members, including the minister, and wounded others. The event turned violent after protesters clashed with counter-protesters, resulting in more than 30 injured.
context_section_description: In November 2017, Jason Kessler, the organizer of the rally, applied for a permit to hold a rally in Charlottesville in August 2018, on the anniversary of the march. In December 2017, the city of Charlottesville denied the permit, writing that Kessler's application "likely underestimates the number of participants" and that "no reasonable allocation of city funds or resources can guarantee that event participants will be free of any 'threat of violence'". While Kessler filed suit against the city, he withdrew the suit before any ruling was made.
  In June 2018, Jason Kessler's application for a "White Civil Rights Rally" was approved for August 11 and 12 by the National Park Service. The rally was planned to be held in Washington DC. A coalition of 18 activist groups under the collective title D.C. Against Hate planned "to counter-protest the event on a massive scale, with the aim of shutting down the rally entirely".
  On July 31, 2018 Facebook announced that it had deleted a number of accounts which were engaging in "coordinated inauthentic behavior".  Among the activities being pursued by these accounts was the organization of a counter-protest of the 2018 anniversary rally in Washington DC. Initial reports showed links between the deleted accounts and the Russian-based Internet Research Agency (IRA), which was connected to Russian misinformation campaigns during the 2016 US presidential election.
  The Unite the Right 2 rally occurred on August 12, 2018, and saw low turnout, with up to 30 Kessler supporters while counter-protesters who demonstrated against the rally numbered into the thousands.  There were only a few arrests, no one was injured, and the crowd was dispersed early by a rainstorm.
caption: A counter-demonstrator holding a sign referring to Christopher Cantwell as the Crying Nazi in front of the White House on August 11, 2018
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