(JTA) — White nationalist leader Richard Spencer led another far-right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Saturday’s march included several dozen torch-bearing white nationalists who marched through Emancipation Park to the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, which the city is working to remove, along with the statues of other Confederate leaders. Spencer was the featured speaker at the rally.
Spencer tweeted a video clip of the march under the heading “Back in Charlottesville.” He later tweeted “Charlottesville 3.0 was a success.”
Back in Charlottesville https://t.co/0iwH1CT8sT
— Richard ☝🏻Spencer (@RichardBSpencer) October 7, 2017
The protesters chanted “You will not replace us” and “We will be back.”
Charlottesville’s Jewish mayor, Mike Signer, responded to the march in a tweet, saying “Another despicable visit by neo-Nazi cowards. You’re not welcome here! Go home! Meantime we’re looking at all our legal options. Stay tuned.”
Another despicable visit by neo-Nazi cowards. You’re not welcome here! Go home! Meantime we’re looking at all our legal options. Stay tuned.
— Mike Signer (@MikeSigner) October 8, 2017
“It was a planned flash mob,” Spencer told the Washington Post. “It was a great success. We’ve been planning this for a long time.
“We wanted to prove that we came in peace in May, we came in peace in August, and we come again in peace.”
The protesters have vowed to continue to return to Charlottesville, according to the Washington Post.
In August, the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville led to skirmishes between some 500 white supremacists, neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klan members with counterprotesters. Many of the far-right protesters were armed, and some carried Nazi flags and shouted racist and anti-Semitic slogans. An alleged white supremacist rammed his car into a crowd of counterprotesters, killing a 32-year-old woman, Heather Heyer, and injuring at least 20.
President Donald Trump later equated the protesters with those who opposed them.
