(CNN) — The organizer of last year’s deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, is looking to hold a “white civil rights rally” in front of the White House in August.
National Park Service spokesman Mike Litterst confirmed Thursday an application for the event from Jason Kessler has been received. The event has been approved but the permit has not yet been issued, as the National Park Service is gathering information from the organizers about the event’s details, he said.
“The review and permitting process will ensure public safety and the protection of park resources are taken into consideration; we do not consider the content of the message presented,” Litterst said.
Kessler requests in the application that the event take place at Lafayette Park, and the application states that the purpose of the event is for “protesting civil rights abuse in Charlottesville,” and expects 400 people to participate.
The dates requested by Kessler, August 11-12, mark the one-year anniversary of the events in Charlottesville.
In an email, Kessler told The Post that he picked DC because he wants government officials to be aware of “the civil rights abuse by the Charlottesville government that led to the violence at last year’s rally.”
In August 2017, protesters gathered in Charlottesville over the potential removal of a Confederate monument. A car was driven into a crowd, killing 32-year-old local paralegal Heather Heyer, and injuring 19 more people.
President Donald Trump’s initial statement on the incident also sparked outcry, when he condemned “hatred, bigotry and violence, on many sides.”
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