I attended the MOAR rally on September 16 in Washington, DC. Here’s what I saw.

“The ‘Mother of All Rallies’ last Saturday (September 16) may have been the biggest far-right march since the deadly events in Charlottesville, Virginia, but that doesn’t mean it was successful. Organizers claimed they would draw one million people to Washington, D.C., for what they called the ‘Woodstock of American Rallies.’ Despite months of organizing the rally, with its stated goal of protecting and preserving ‘American culture,’ 1,000 people at most came to hear over 50 speakers and bands. The organizers’ boastful branding and their reservation of a huge swath of the mall in front of the Washington Monument backfired. The internet mocked the tiny turnout with aerial photos. It seemed especially pathetic compared to a nearby march by Juggalos, a subculture of Insane Clown Posse fans who dress up like the Detroit-born rap-metal band. The Juggalos were protesting against the FBI designating them a ‘hybrid gang‘ in a 2011 report.

MOAR was an attempt to rekindle the pre-Charlottesville street marches held by what I dubbed in Colorlines in June as ‘Independent Trumpists.’ Since Donald Trump took office, this mixture of Republicans, members of the so-called alt-right, neo-Nazis and armed activists from the militia and Patriot movements have participated in a series of rallies in favor of ‘free speech’ and against Islam and the removal of Confederate monuments. And in this sense, MOAR succeeded in replicating this coalition, even as they tried unsuccessfully to dissuade Nazis from showing up.”

Read the full article at Colorlines