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WASHINGTON: A top US official on Sunday shrugged off a July Fourth parade by masked white supremacists in Washington as an example of “messy” democracy that fell under the banner of constitutionally protected free speech.
“Certainly what they stand for is nothing that I could possibly agree with. But one of the foundational principles of the United States, which makes democracy messy, is free speech,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told CNN.
In striking scenes as Americans celebrated the nation’s 250th birthday on Saturday, hundreds of masked men carrying Confederate battle flags or US flags and sporting logos of the white supremacist Patriot Front movement were seen marching through parts of Washington, shouting “Reclaim America!”
Wearing a uniform of tan pants and hats and dark blue shirts, and apparently led by the neo-fascist group’s founder Thomas Rousseau, the masked men crowded onto the city’s Metro system, gathered outside Union Station train station and marched towards Capitol Hill.
