Protests decry white supremacist rally
SEATTLE — Protesters decrying hatred and racism converged around the country yesterday, saying they felt compelled to counteract the white supremacist rally that spiraled into deadly violence in Virginia.
The gatherings spanned from a march to President Donald Trump's home in New York to candlelight vigils in several cities. In Seattle, police arrested three men and confiscated weapons as Trump supporters and counter-protesters converged downtown.
Some focused on showing support for the people whom white supremacists condemn. Other demonstrations were pushing for the removal of Confederate monuments, the issue that initially prompted white nationalists to gather in anger this weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia. Still other gatherings aimed to denounce fascism and a presidential administration that organizers feel has let white supremacists feel empowered.
"People need to wake up, recognize that and resist it as fearlessly as it needs to be done," said Carl Dix, a leader of the Refuse Fascism group organizing demonstrations in New York, San Francisco and other cities. "This can't be allowed to fester and to grow because we've seen what happened in the past when that was allowed."
"It has to be confronted," said Dix, a New Yorker who spoke by phone from Charlottesville Sunday afternoon. He had gone there to witness and deplore the white nationalist rally on a Saturday that spiraled into bloodshed.
In Seattle, a rally previously planned for Sunday by the conservative pro-Trump group known as Patriot Prayer drew hundreds of counter protesters.