White nationalist injured in anti-fascist protest at Washington DC

A member of a far-right white nationalist group was hurt in a clash with protestors outside the Ronald Reagan building in Washington DC. A conference on Saturday (19 November) was held by the National Policy Institute (NPI), headed up by white supremacist Richard Spencer.

The event attracted hundreds of anti-fascist protestors who brandished placards and chanted: "Alt-wrong", "No Donald Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA!"

Trouble broke out when a man and a woman from NPI tried to film the protestors, leading to some to yell: "Nazis go home."

The video camera was knocked out of the NPI supporter's hand and a fight broke out, resulting in the alt-right group member coming away from the skirmish with a bloody cut to his forehead.

Protestors began shouting: "Die, Nazi, die."

Police arrested two protestors at the scene of the demonstration: one of them was pinned to the ground and then handcuffed.

Inside the conference, Spencer called the protesters the real "fascists". He has praised President-elect Donald Trump, saying, "The Trump movement was kind of a body without a head. The alt-right, as an intellectual vanguard, can complete Trump."

Speakers at the conference included Kevin MacDonald, a retired psychology professor who is considered an anti-Semite by Jewish groups. He is described as "the neo-Nazi movement's favourite academic" by the Southern Poverty Law Centre.

The SPLC has said that there have been 701 incidents of hateful harassment since Trump was elected president-elect.

Another speaker at the event was Peter Brimelow, an anti-immigration activist who heads up the media outlet VDare Foundation. VDare regularly features articles by white nationalists and anti-Semites.

Spencer and his followers oppose immigration and multiculturalism. On Friday night, protestors attempted to disrupt a private dinner for alt-right members, but were prevented.

The Smash Racism DC group said on their website: "We must defeat Trumpism. We must defeat Trump's 'Alt Right' base and the racist, sexist, and anti-immigrant hate which threatens all of us."