Give police credit for preventing violence this time

Law enforcement authorities deserve credit for ensuring that Sunday’s rally in Washington did not devolve into the deadly violence seen last August in Charlottesville.

Chalk that up as one lesson learned from bitter experience. The District of Columbia’s police department, experienced at handling protests, planned strategically, using barricades and officers to keep white supremacists separated from counterprotesters. Officers quickly stopped the few skirmishes that broke out from escalating.

One of the only violent moments was sparked by “antifa” — masked, helmeted anti-fascists wearing black — who clashed with D.C. police at an intersection. The far-left group does itself no good and gives the far right an opportunity to malign as haters the peaceful counterprotesters voicing a serious message of unity.

At last year’s protest in Charlottesville, both local and Virginia State Police failed disastrously and ultimately fatal- ly. Local officers were ill-prepared and improperly trained to handle large groups of white supremacists and counterprotesters, some of whom came itching for a fight, according to an independent post-mortem.

State and local police failed to coordinate. Sticks, poles and other potential weapons were not banned. Clashes between opposing factions were not broken up. Heather Heyer, a 32-year-old peaceful counterprotester, paid with her life for the shameful incompetency. She was killed by a white supremacist who sped his car down a street and hit her and other demonstrators.

D.C. police and top officials took another smart step to ease tensions that gripped much of Washington before Sunday’s demonstrations. They joined with religious leaders at a Jewish congregation Thursday to denounce the white supremacist message and assure that they would protect the city, its citizens and the First Amendment — a promise they managed to keep.