Charlottesville organizer applies for permit to hold another rally

The man who organized the white nationalist rally earlier this year in Charlottesville, Va., says he has applied for a permit to hold another rally in the city in August 2018.

“I’ve applied for a new permit at Charlottesville’s Lee Park for August 11th and 12th 2018 on the one year anniversary of Unite the Right,” Jason Kessler wrote in a post on his blog Wednesday.

“I fully expect the Charlottesville government to try and reject it and I’m ready for that fight.”

{mosads}The August Unite the Right rally this past year turned violent when hate groups clashed with counterprotesters.

One woman was killed when a car, driven by a man police say has ties to white supremacist groups, rammed into a crowd of people protesting the marchers. 

Kessler wrote in the post on his website that next year’s rally, in the same location, will be different.

He and his attorneys will demand that police release security arrangements in advance of the rally. He also outlined other precautions he will take.

“Even given the fact that we’ve had a huge learning experience and there are tangible ways we can prove to people that they are going to have a safe experience, there are still going to be risks,” he said.

“Some will say that we shouldn’t take those risks and remain behind our computers where we can continue to propagate dank memes and advance our arguments online.”

But Kessler emphasized the importance of having a “presence in the streets.”

“We need to prove to them that we are the good guys. In my mind it is best to take every precaution to make ourselves safe in the first place but allow our enemies to strike the first blows if it comes to that,” he wrote.

“Show the world that we are a virtuous people and movement; that we are willing to take the abuse and still march forward in furtherance of our cause without becoming the aggressors.”

In October, Charlottesville and several local businesses joined a lawsuit against white supremacists and “private militia groups” to prevent them from holding rallies in the city.

Georgetown Law’s Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection filed the complaint in the Circuit Court for the City of Charlottesville, alleging that the groups violated state laws against private militias. 

The complaint alleged that the white supremacist groups “came to Charlottesville to fight.”

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