White supremacists hope to hold rallies on the Aug. 12 anniversary of last year’s demonstration in Charlottesville, Va., which turned into a riot that left one woman dead and shocked the nation, reports USA Today. They hope to focus on “white civil rights” with rallies in Charlottesville and Washington, D.C. But the alt-right faces internal divisions and seems unlikely to rally in the same large numbers as last year. Jason Kessler, who organized the 2017 event under the banner “Unite the Right,” was denied a permit to gather in Charlottesville this year. He will fight that decision in a court hearing Tuesday. In Washington, Kessler’s permit application for an Aug. 12 rally received initial approval, and details are being worked out. Only American and Confederate flags–and no neo-Nazi paraphernalia–will be allowed at the D.C. event, Kessler said.
“What I’m really trying to do is start a new movement,” Kessler said. “I feel like the ‘alt-right’ has been a symbol for neo-Nazism.” Kessler said he expects fewer people this year. “A lot of people are going to be very scared for their safety,” he said. The group also faces internal struggles to turn an Internet-focused movement into a viable political force. “I think the hope was that they would step away from their computers and enter into real politics,” said George Hawley, a University of Alabama professor who has written a book about the alt-right. “And that was not the result.” ThinkProgress, a left-wing website, has reported that white nationalists are bickering over the details of the planned demonstrations. “The Alt-Right is poor, disorganized and lacking in conviction,” Kessler wrote in a May 13 Facebook message.