White supremacist group Patriot Front in Philadelphia.Photo: 6ABC Philadelphia/YouTube
Approximately 200 members of the Texas-based white supremacist group Patriot Front were chased away from an area outside Philadelphia City Hall over the weekend after local pedestrians confronted them, authorities said Monday.
The outlet reported that police questioned the group of protestors later, after pulling their trucks over “for safety reasons.”
According to the Anti-Defamation League, Patriot Front was established in the wake of the 2017 white nationalist"Unite the Right" rally, which drew attendees and counter-demonstrators into confrontation on the streets of Charlottesville, Virginia.
During that rally,32-year-old Heather Heyerdied after a car intentionally plowed through a crowd of counter-demonstrators as the rally broke up, authorities said at the time.
The ADL describes the group as espousing “racism, anti-Semitism and intolerance under the guise of preserving the ‘ethnic and cultural origins’ of their European ancestors.” The organization says the group isknown to participate in localized “flash mobs"and torch marches/demonstrations.
In a series of statements posted to Twitter, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney acknowledged the group’s white supremacist origins, saying his administration “stands against everything” Patriot Front represents.
“Patriot Front is a group that openly advocates for white supremacy. While we respect everyone’s right to exercise free speech, our administration stands against everything these groups represent,” Kenney, a Democrat, wrote on Sunday.
In a second tweet, Kenney wrote that he was “appalled these groups chose Philly as the place to demonstrate their open hatred. Racism, intolerance, and hate have no place here. We’re monitoring the situation.”
source: people.com
