The National Park Service has approved an initial request for organizers to hold a second "Unite the Right" rally, this time across from the White House in August — one year after white supremacists gathered in Charlottesville, Va.
The park service has given initial approval to an application from Jason Kessler to hold a "white civil rights rally" on Aug. 11 and 12, as first reported by WUSA9. Kessler, along with Richard Spencer and others, organized the 2017 rally. The park service has not yet issued a permit for the event.
In an application dated May 8, Kessler estimated as many as 400 people would attend. He listed the purpose of the event as: "Protesting civil rights abuse in Charlottesville Va / white civil rights rally."
A website from organizers of the "Unite the Right" rally lists the event's primary location as "Lee Park" — now called "Emancipation Park" — the Charlottesville park that's been at the center of controversy for its statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
Lafayette Square, which sits across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House, is listed as an "alternate location."