Washington focus on Charlottesville anniversary

Counter-demonstrator heather Heyer was killed in last year's rally.

District of Columbia leaders are preparing for what could be a contentious and trying day on Monday when the organiser of last year's deadly white-supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, holds an anniversary gathering with up to 400 supporters in Washington's Lafayette Square across from the White House.

As many as 1500 counterprotesters are expected at Lafayette Square and more at two nearby parks, setting up a possible volatile showdown that District and federal law enforcement officials say they are prepared to confront.

Unlike in Charlottesville, where police allowed the opposing factions to clash in what turned into a bloody melee, the goal in Washington "will be to keep the two groups separate", said police chief Peter Newsham. "When they are in the same area at the same time, it leads to violent confrontations. Our goal is to prevent that from happening."

He said he wants a day in which "nobody gets injured and nothing gets broke".

Newsham joined other city officials and religious leaders to both denounce the white supremacists' message and to assure nervous residents and visitors that a plan to keep everyone safe is in place. They spoke at the Adas Israel Congregation in Washington, where leaders urged a message of peace and inclusiveness, and noted that houses of worship and community centres would be open across the city for people wishing to contemplate a more uplifting message.

"Very, very few of our visitors share the views that will be expressed in Lafayette Park," Mayor Muriel Bowser said. "We have people coming to our city for the sole purpose of spewing hate. It didn't make sense last year, and it doesn't make sense now."

Authorities want to avoid a repeat of what happened exactly a year ago when violent clashes broke out in Charlottesville, Virginia, on a day that ended with three people dead. Counter-demonstrator Heather Heyer was killed when a man who police say identified himself as a Nazi drove a car into a crowd, and two Virginia state police troopers in a helicopter that had been monitoring the civil unrest died in a crash nearby.

On Thursday, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam declared a state of emergency, allowing officials to marshal resources to prepare for the potential impact of events in and around Charlottesville and northern Virginia. Police at last year's event were criticised for being caught off guard by the violence, failing to keep feuding groups apart and not reacting quickly enough as fights broke out.

Charlottesville this year denied organiser Jason Kessler a permit for a rally there, but he received final approval yesterday from the National Park Service for up to 400 participants at Lafayette Square for an event dubbed "Unite the Right 2". Washington Post