Group with white supremacist banner holds Greenwich rally

GREENWICH — A group of masked demonstrators carrying what witnesses said appeared to be a white supremacist banner rallied in Greenwich for about an hour on Saturday afternoon before dispersing.

Mark Zuccerella, the deputy chief of the Greenwich Police Department, said in an email that police were aware of the demonstration, but that the group did not break any laws and left without incident.

The brief rally comes as Connecticut faces a dramatic rise in white supremacist propaganda incidents. According to a report published by the Anti-Defamation League last month, the state saw a record number of incidents during the course of 2023, outpacing the national rate.

Last fall, Greenwich police said that several residents discovered recruitment flyers from a white supremacist group in their driveways, prompting them to investigate the material.

Zuccerella said the reported reason for the group’s protest was related to an assault involving teenagers that took place in Byram Park earlier this month. Police have charged two juveniles in connection with the incident and have said the fight appears to have involved racial overtones.

Greenwich resident Evan Kanouse said he saw the group around 5 p.m. near Rainbow Avenue and Prospect Street, just a few blocks from Greenwich Town Hall, as he was driving through the area.

Kanouse said there appeared to be about 10 to 15 men gathered, and that they appeared to be performing the Nazi salute while carrying a white supremacist banner and chanting something he couldn’t make out.

Kanouse, who noted that he is in an interracial marriage, said he was disgusted by the demonstration and reported it to police, but that a dispatcher informed him there was nothing police could do.

“I was terrified,” Kanouse said. “I was shocked to see this in this neighborhood and specifically in New England. I don’t think of this type of thing happening here. I think of this thing happening in more conservative parts of the country or the Deep South. But this was certainly a surprise.”