Several hundred members of the white nationalist group Patriot Front marched masked through Washington, D.C. ahead of the United States’ 250th Independence Day celebration, shouting "Take Back America" amid criticism that the event reflected political division and extremist violence in American society.
Several hundred extremist white nationalist "Patriot Front" members gathered to march through the streets of Washington, D.C. last Saturday, ahead of the U.S. Independence Day celebrations on the evening of July 4, highlighting the current political tensions and sharp divisions widely criticized today.
Patriot Front posted on social media that about 400 members had arrived in the capital. Reuters photographers observed many individuals wearing the group’s uniform traveling on the D.C. Metro subway. Videos circulated online and on the group’s Telegram channel showed members wearing khaki pants, caps, blue shirts, sunglasses, and white face coverings marching to drumbeats near the U.S. Capitol and Union Station, carrying the group’s flags, Confederate flags, and various American flags while chanting "Take Back America!" intermittently before dispersing and returning by subway to Maryland suburbs around midday.
A spokesperson for the Washington Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) said police monitored the group’s activities, which were an exercise of First Amendment rights to free speech. There were no reports of arrests, complaints, or requests for assistance related to the march. The police reiterated their respect for peaceful expression and commitment to ensuring safety for residents and visitors alike.
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) noted that Patriot Front is known for its organized attire, masked anonymity, and flash mob-style protests. The group was founded in 2017 following the violent "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, as a splinter from the white supremacist group Vanguard America.
Patriot Front’s website clearly states its ideology: "Democracy has failed in this once-great country" and calls for a "complete system reset" to restore the customs and virtues of ancestors, specifically referring to white European settlers only.
John Cohen, a former counterterrorism and intelligence official at the Department of Homeland Security during the Barack Obama and Joe Biden administrations, said the group tries to present itself as mainstream but is fundamentally rooted in white supremacist and anti-immigrant beliefs. "Their confidence to march publicly on Independence Day clearly shows the country is confronting serious problems with white supremacist ideology," he said.
Luke Baumgartner, a researcher at the George Washington University Program on Extremism, added that although the group uses red, white, and blue to suggest patriotism, their logo closely resembles the "Fascio" symbol of Italy’s National Fascist Party under Benito Mussolini in the 1920s to 1940s.
Baumgartner summarized, "At their core, they are a white supremacist organization using public appearances—flash marches, leafleting, highway banners—to campaign and spread the racist message that America was created by and for white people only."
. Reuters