Far-right rally looms small, booed by crowded counterprotesters outside White House

WASHINGTON - It had been expected up to about 400 white supremacists to gather outside the White House on Sunday. However, by 4:00 pm local time, only dozens of them emerged and marched through Washington D.C. , accompanied by huge boos from crowded counterprotesters separated by heavy police presence.

"Go home, Nazis", "Shame", counterprotesters yelled at the far-right demonstrators, some of them hiding their faces with masks, bags or flags.

In order to keep the far-right group and people who protest them separate, the police blocked traffic and installed black metal fencing in Lafayette Square outside the White House. An entire section of Pennsylvania Ave. adjacent to the White House was also sealed off.

In sharp comparison with the small group of far-right demonstrators showing up, thousands of counter-protesters have gathered peacefully in several locations in central Washington since early afternoon on Sunday, the first anniversary of deadly riots in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Organizers of the the far right rally, officially named United the Right 2, claim their purpose was to advocate "White civil rights," but were slammed as promoting racism and xenophobia.

Debbie Wagner, an anti protester from Maryland, told Xinhua that she was shocked by the tragedy at Charlottesville last year.

"White Supremacism is a terrible thing, I hope America can continue to be a place of diversity," she said.

Last summer's "Unite the Right" rally in historic Charlottesville, held on Aug. 12 to protest US cities taking down Confederate statues, attracted national attention when white supremacists, fascists and neo-Nazis violently clashed with counter-protesters.

A 32-year-old woman was killed and 19 others were injured when a white supremacist from Ohio drove a car into the crowd of counter-protesters at the time.

This year, the far right rally held by the same organizers is set to begin in Lafayette Park at 5:30 pm and last for about two hours.

US President Donald Trump, who drew a firestorm of criticism in the wake of the riots last year when he said "both sides" were to blame for the violence, is not in the capital this weekend.