White supremacist march on D.C. sparks conspiracy theory FBI was involved

Online conspiracy theorists have claimed that federal agents were behind a march at the weekend of a white nationalist organization in Washington D.C., arguing that the rally had been met without resistance from law enforcement.

At least 150 members of the far-right Patriot Front carried shields and battle drums on Saturday as they marched along the National Mall and in downtown Washington, D.C. In video footage, the group can be seen being escorted by police officers to separate members from a counter-protest.

The claims throw doubt on the intention and origins of the march, which has been condemned by many. It came as hate watchdogs have warned of an alarming rise in far-right activity.

On the Reddit forum for conspiracy theories, one user said those taking part in the march “look suspiciously like Feds” and “all a little too uniform to me, to be authentic.”

“The fact that there is no morbidly obese people among the crowd is a dead giveaway that they are trained feds,” one wrote in response.

“You know how I know they are feds?” another commented in a different thread. “No beer bellies. Not saying every gun-loving American has one but statistically there should be a couple at least.”

“You got to understand the federal government is going to set conservatives up,” one Twitter user argued in a tweet posted on Sunday that, as of 8:45 a.m. ET Monday, had been seen 11,400 times. “Using informants and undercovers to dangle the carrot so you join groups like Patriot Front.”

In a further tweet, seen nearly 5,000 times, they added: “Do you think the FBI is just going to let a NEO NAZI group pile into a back of a PENSKE rental truck and drive up the highway[?] This is a covert FBI sting operation to indoctrinate dummys.”

Another user, who in a separate tweet expressed support for the FBI being behind the march, claimed: “All black police officers, just as last of 50-75 white supremacists safely make it to the bottom of the escalator. No one is mad. Acting like this is a normal day at work, ensuring kids get to school safely.”

When a prominent account asked whether it was an FBI “false flag” operation—one conducted by a party to appear as if performed by another—or a real protest, one person suggested: “More ‘white supremacy’ means more budget justification with zero risk. More excuses to crack down on citizens in the name of fighting ‘white supremacy’.”

Other users on both Reddit and Twitter noted that the day before the march, U.S. President Joe Biden had given remarks at the Capital One Arena in which he said white supremacy was “the most dangerous terrorist threat to our homeland.”

An FBI spokesperson declined to comment on specific claims or events when approached for comment by Newsweek, but said the agency “investigates individuals who commit or intend to commit violence and other criminal activity that constitutes a federal crime or poses a threat to national security. Our focus is not on membership in particular groups but on criminal activity.”

A spokesperson for the Capitol Police also declined to comment on the claims, but told Newsweek that the force had made no arrests in relation to the march.

White supremacist groups have seen a massive rise in activity in the past year. According to a study by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in March, there was a 38 percent increase in white supremacist activity from 2021 to 2022, with more than 6,700 incidents reported throughout the year.

In May, the watchdog found that in 2021, antisemitic propaganda rose by 27 percent from the year before. While it said that at least 38 groups had been responsible for distributing such material, 91 percent of the activity came from three groups including Patriot Front.

ADL describes Patriot Front members as defining themselves as “American fascists or American nationalists who are focused on preserving America’s identity as a European-American one.”

It said since 2019, the Texas-based group “has been responsible for the vast majority of white supremacist propaganda distributed in the United States.”

Various sources state that Patriot Front arose out of a split from Vanguard America in August 2017, following a disagreement between Dillon Hopper, Vanguard America’s leader, and Thomas Rousseau, who now leads Patriot Front.

The Institute for Strategic Dialogue, an independent non-profit that seeks to reverse extremism, says an estimated hundred Patriot Front members previously marched on Washington D.C. in December 2021.

On June 11, 2022, police in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, arrested 31 members of the group after receiving information that they planned to disrupt an LGBTQ+ Pride event being held nearby. Following this incident, online users also claimed it was an FBI conspiracy.

Update 05/15/23, 12:04 p.m. ET: This article was updated to include comment from the FBI.

Update 05/15/23, 13:09 p.m. ET: This article was updated to include comment from the Capitol Police.