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Wide Range of Extremists, Neo-Nazis and White Supremacists Plan to Attend
New York, NY, October 27, 2017 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has released an analysis ahead of a series of “White Lives Matter” protests set to take place at various locations across Tennessee this coming Saturday, October 28. The rally has the potential to be the largest white supremacist gathering since the “Unite the Right” rally which struck Charlottesville earlier this summer where hundreds of extremists descended upon the Virginia city in what was the largest and most violent gathering of white supremacists in decades.
“Despite the backlash after Charlottesville, white supremacists and extremists across the board remain determined to disrupt communities with their messages of hate and intolerance, and this is evident in what we are expecting to see this weekend in Tennessee,” said Jonathan A. Greenblatt, ADL CEO. “Hate has no place in our communities and we urge local leaders, public figures, clergy and elected officials to make their voices loud in denouncing the hate before the rallies begin.”
The protests are meant to call attention to what extremist groups refer to as the “ongoing problem of refugee resettlement in Middle Tennessee,” with a special emphasis on the Emanuel Samson church shooting. Organizers have also announced plans to protest the Trump administration’s recent decision to remove Sudan from the list of countries included in the travel ban and its failure to build a border wall.
Rally organizer The Nationalist Front is an umbrella organization that consists of neo-Nazis, traditional white supremacists, and, to a lesser degree, racist skinheads. The bulk of the attendees for the rally will be associated with the League of the South, Traditionalist Worker Party, National Socialist Movement and Vanguard America. Several small Klan groups have also indicated they will attend, along with various unaffiliated White Lives Matter activists.
ADL’s Center on Extremism estimates that Saturday’s rally could attract as many as 200 people.
ADL recently released a report identifying the myriad of activists and leaders who personify the alt-right and alt lite movements at a time of increased public activity, and in May, produced a new analysis of the Ku Klux Klan, which despite internal turmoil, remains active in 33 states with just over 40 affiliated groups.