WASHINGTON — On the Fourth of July, hundreds of masked white nationalists belonging to the group Patriot Front made their way through the streets of Washington, D.C., hours before the city’s planned Independence Day evening events.
The organization announced on social media that approximately 400 of its members had descended on the nation’s capital. Reuters photographers captured footage of large numbers of people dressed in Patriot Front attire riding Washington’s Metro rail system.
Footage circulated across multiple social media platforms and on the group’s own Telegram channel showed members marching near the U.S. Capitol building to the beat of drummers. The marchers were dressed in a recognizable uniform of khaki pants and caps, blue shirts, white face coverings, and sunglasses. Many in the crowd carried the group’s flag, Confederate flags, and various versions of the American flag, with participants at times shouting the phrase “Reclaim America.”
By midday, the group boarded Metro trains and departed at the New Carrollton, Maryland station, located in the northeastern suburbs of Washington.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Patriot Front was established in 2017 in the aftermath of the deadly “Unite the Right” rally held in Charlottesville, Virginia. The group broke away from Vanguard America, a white supremacist organization that played a central role in that violent gathering. Patriot Front has become known for its coordinated uniforms, face masks, and flash mob-style public appearances.
A statement on the Patriot Front’s website reads, “Democracy has failed this once great nation,” and calls for a “hard reset” to “return to the traditions and virtues of our forefathers” — whom the group identifies as European settlers.
