Photographers gathered in Washington to cover the Fourth of July weekend events and diverted attention to an unexpected demonstration when social media reports indicated members of an organized white supremacist group were moving through the city.
At about 9 a.m. on Saturday, photographer Nathan Howard began monitoring online posts and streams suggesting the group was conducting short marches. Drawing on previous experience covering extremist organizations, Howard said he moved quickly to locate them because their tactic is to stage brief parades and then disperse. "Knowing time was working against us, I immediately began gathering information about the march and talking with sources who track extremist groups," he said. "I found a livestream following the group, social media posts from people who had encountered them, and Reddit posts that helped identify landmarks and street signs, allowing me to narrow down their approximate location."
Howard set out with freelance colleague Cheney Orr. The two encountered members of the organization dressed in matching navy tops, khaki pants and white face coverings as they were dispersing and headed toward the Eastern Market Metro station. The photographers followed and captured large numbers of the group entering the station, waiting on a platform, and boarding a train.
The group posted that roughly 400 members had arrived in Washington on Saturday. A manifesto on the group’s website includes the passage, "Democracy has failed this once great nation," and calls for a "hard reset" to restore what it describes as the traditions and virtues of European settlers.
The photographers split up on the train, positioning themselves at opposite ends of a passenger car crowded with members. The contrast between the masked faces and the ordinary routine of public transit was stark. In a photograph taken by Orr, a woman in a green T-shirt sits alone in the car, her expression unreadable while members of the group sit and stand around her. "As I photographed members of the group, I noticed the woman you see in this image sitting alone among them," Orr said. "I leaned over seated members of Patriot Front, extended my arm, and composed the frame using my camera’s screen," he added.
At the train’s terminal stop in New Carrollton, group members disembarked and dispersed, moving toward individual vehicles. The photographers continued documenting the scene as members left the station. Orr said he did not observe where the lone woman went after the train stopped.
Attempts to get comment from the organization about the purpose of the march and the identities of masked members were unsuccessful. The group did not respond to queries from the photographers' news organization. Reporters contacted a family member of the woman in the photograph but were unable to speak with the woman herself.
Context and reporting notes
The images recorded during the procession and on-board the train highlight how organized groups can briefly disrupt routine public spaces. Photographers relied on a combination of livestreams, social media reports and online forum posts to locate and document the march before it dissipated.