GW to close some buildings for ‘Unite the Right’ rally

George Washington University will close several of its main buildings on Sunday in anticipation of the white nationalist “Unite the Right” rally scheduled to take place near its campus in downtown Washington, D.C, the school’s student newspaper reported.

The GW Hatchet reports that the school will close three of its buildings that are within walking distance of the rally, which is scheduled to take place in Lafayette Park, near the White House.

The university will ramp up security throughout the day Sunday, and warned its students in an email to expect a “significant” police presence on and around the campus in Foggy Bottom, according to the Hatchet.

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“Be aware that situations can change quickly and GW Safety and Security officials will be closely monitoring conditions on campus,” the email to the student body read, according to the student newspaper.

The D.C. police also announced Tuesday that multiple roads will be closed from 2 to 8 p.m. on Aug. 12, when the rally and counterprotests are set to take place in D.C.

Hundreds are expected to attend the rally Sunday commemorating the anniversary of last year’s deadly protests in Charlottesville, Va., while other counterprotests in D.C. are expected to draw large crowds.

The D.C. Metro considered providing a separate train for the right-wing groups but over the weekend announced it would not do so.

Protesters are planning to take the Metro from Virginia on Sunday afternoon, according to the Unite the Right website.

The rally comes one year after a rally in Charlottesville that ended with a white nationalist driving his car into a crowd of counterprotesters, killing one woman.