Upon exiting the station, they were outnumbered by hundreds of counter-protesters who shouted things like “F--- you, Nazis!”

Police wearing bright yellow safety vests, some with bicycles and others on motorcycles, surrounded Kessler’s group on all sides and escorted it as the racists marched toward the park across from the White House. Kessler carried an American flag. Some of Kessler’s crew wore masks and helmets as if they were preparing for battle.

Journalist Ford Fischer of News2Share asked Kessler on a video livestream what he thought about people calling him a fascist and Nazi.

“They’re wrong. I’m not a fascist. I’m a classical liberal,” said Kessler, a racist who refers to himself as a white civil rights activist and who organized last year’s deadly “Unite the Right” rally as well as this year’s follow-up.

One of the far-right activists expected to speak at today’s rally, Jovanni Valle, who commonly goes by the name Jovi Val, screamed at the counter-protesters as he marched.

“You guys are cowards!” Valle said.

Photo at top: AP Photo/Sait Serkan Gurbuz