MANASSAS — A group marching from Charlottesville to Washington demanding the removal of President Trump, while “confronting white supremacy” will march through Manassas.
The 110-mile, 10-day “March to Confront White Supremacy” begins today in Charlottesville will follow Route 29 north through Fauquier County. Then, marchers will turn onto Route 28 and march to Manassas on Sunday, Sept. 3.
“For years, white supremacist violence, rhetoric, and policies have escalated and intensified – exploding during Donald Trump’s run for president and reaching a boiling point in Charlottesville, as courageous people of moral conscience stood up to an army of white nationalists, neo-Nazis, and members of the KKK,” the march website states.
The group plans to arrive in Washington on Sept. 6 to where it will demand the removal of the president from the White House.
Manassas officials are monitoring the situation. So far, no one has applied for a required permit to protest in the city.
“Police and fire have been notified and are working with other state and local officials,” said Manassas spokeswoman Patty Prince.
It’s too early to say what traffic impacts, if any, will be caused by the march.
Last week during a visit to Manasass, Gov. Terry McAuliffe said the violence in Charlottesville was caused by armed white supremacists who came to cause a rift in the community.
“The issue is not about monuments, and no one has any illusions. These individuals came into our state, these neo-nazis, these white supremacists came into our state, and they came armed. So don’t get caught up in [discussion about removing Confederate monuments], there’s hatred, bigotry, and we have to figure out how it happened, and these individuals used to wear hoods, they don’t wear hoods anymore,” said McAuliffe.
The Manassas TEA Party issued a statement Monday morning calling for residents to not lend support to the march, or any counter march that could materialize.
“After the recent violence in Charlottesville, Va., citizens of Manassas and Prince William County,
peace-loving, tolerant and law-abiding people, are broadly opposed to the potential for similar racial strife and bloodshed in their backyard.” Manassas Tea Party Chairman Dan Arnold in a press release. “Whether it is being stirred up by white supremacists or by AntiFa activists, Manassas residents have no interest in having their community and history used as political pawns in an increasingly dangerous game of ‘gotcha.’”
The march is scheduled to pass through the city one week after Manassas leaders canceled its annual Civil War Weekend, a living-history event filled with period re-enactors, demonstrations, live music, and social events.
Manassas officials said there was no credible threat at the time they issued the order to cancel Civil War Weekend. When pressed on whether or not canceling the event was the right decision, McAuliffe told Potomac Local, “You don’t know what the credible threat is. You may not know the intelligence, people don’t know the intelligence I have, so I would not presuppose you know what the intelligence is.”
Updated
Manassas officials tell us the route for the march will no longer travel along Route 28 but will follow Route 29. Marchers will travel from Warrenton to Gainesville on Sunday, Sept. 3.
