News   /   Society

White nationalists, ‘antifa’ protesters face off at White House

White nationalists march on a street near the White House during an anti-immigartion rally in Washington, DC on December 3, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

Rival groups of white supremacists and counter-protesters have faced off in the US capital Washington DC, shouting slogans at one another.

The white nationalists called for imposing tougher restrictions on immigration to the US in front of the White House on Sunday. The white nationalists — including well-known white supremacist Richard Spencer — assembled on Pennsylvania Avenue, carrying American flags and chanting “build the wall,” demanding US President Donald Trump to fulfill his campaign promise to build a border wall on the country’s border with Mexico.

Earlier in the day, Spencer had invited his supporters to gather and “demand Trump build #KatesWall.”

Kate Steinle was a 32-year-old whose fatal shooting by an undocumented Mexican immigrant in 2015 in San Francisco became an anti-immigrant rallying cry, taken up by Trump during his 2016 campaign.

A San Francisco jury this week acquitted Jose Ines Garcia Zarate of murder, concluding the shooting was accidental. Trump slammed the verdict and tweeted: “A disgraceful verdict in the Kate Steinle case! No wonder the people of our Country are so angry with Illegal Immigration.”

US Attorney General Jeff Sessions pushed back after the acquittal, calling Steinle's death "preventable" and blaming the sanctuary policy of San Francisco for Steinle’s death.

"San Francisco's decision to protect criminal aliens led to the preventable and heartbreaking death of Kate Steinle," Sessions said in a statement.

The white nationalists were confronted by the anti-fascist or “antifa” demonstrators who denounced racial profiling. Police managed to separate the groups, and no major clashes broke out.

Counter-protesters shout slogans at white nationalist holding an anti-immigration rally front of the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC on December 3, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric has led to a rise in racist attacks in the US over the past months.


Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk

SHARE THIS ARTICLE
Press TV News Roku