Permit for 'white civil rights' rally in D.C. submitted to National Park Service

WASHINGTON, D.C. (WSET) -- Jason Kessler, the organizer of the violent Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, has submitted a permit for approval to hold another rally this year.

Kessler would hold the rally in Washington, D.C. on the anniversaries of the violence in Charlottesville: the torch-lit march by white nationalists at UVA and the deadly rally at Emancipation Park.

He was denied a request to hold the anniversary rally in Charlottesville with the city saying it posed a danger to public safety and couldn't be accommodated in the location he requested.

Kessler's D.C. permit would allow him to hold a two-day protest in Lafayette Park near the White House on August 11 and 12.

He's still litigating his request for a permit to hold a rally in Charlottesville on the same days.

Kessler said that the Charlottesville rally would be about preserving Confederate monuments while the D.C. rally is to send a message to President Trump about what he calls "white civil rights."

"This year we have a new purpose," he said. "And that's to talk about the civil rights abuse that happened in Charlottesville, Virginia last year."

Kessler said Charlottesville City Manager Maurice Jones was deposed in the case last week and that his attorney will be filing a motion to require the city to allow the event on Friday, August 10.

He said he expects fewer people to attend the event in Charlottesville this year and declined to name any speakers.

He did say he expects about 400 people at the rally in D.C.

CORRECTION: This article previously stated the permit was approved. WJLA is reporting the permit has been submitted and is still pending in the approval process.