A DC rally for fans of President Trump on December 12 will now take place at Freedom Plaza.
Organizers had originally applied to hold the rally at the downtown space near the White House, but another group had applied to use the space that day, leading the National Park Service to work with organizers to move their event to the Lincoln Memorial.
Now, Park Service spokesperson Mike Litterst says, the original permittee “has withdrawn their application for those dates in order to allow the Women for America First rally to take place at that location as originally requested.” DCist reports that that the original permit was held by the Presidential Inaugural Committee, which, ironically, yielded the plaza because “parade set-up for the…inauguration of president-elect Joe Biden hasn’t started yet.”
Many of Trump’s fans believe his evidence-free conspiracy theories of widespread voter fraud. One website for this rally urges Trump not to concede to Biden. Its website includes a map of what it calls a DC “No Go Zone” that extends from Scott Circle to the north, to Black Lives Plaza to the south, to roughly 18th Street to the west, and to Franklin Square to the East. This area, the website explains, “is a well know [sic] staging area for ANTIFA and BLM.” Women for America First says it will provide “security,” who will be wearing bright orange vests or pink T-shirts, to walk attendees safely to their hotels.
It suggests attendees stay in the JW Marriott or the Grand Hyatt near Freedom Plaza, or in Crystal City.
Andrew Beaujon joined Washingtonian in late 2014. He was previously with the Poynter Institute, TBD.com, and Washington City Paper. He lives in Del Ray.
