Mitchell Miller, who covers Capitol Hill for Washington, D.C.’s news station WTOP, reported on the morning of the Fourth of July: “A group of masked men gathered at Union Station today and called for reclaiming the country and getting rid of immigrants. Some held Confederate flags. They have been marching across Capitol Hill.”
A group of masked men gathered at Union Station today and called for reclaiming the country and getting rid of immigrants. Some held Confederate flags. They have been marching across Capitol Hill. pic.twitter.com/xTfaoJDHOO
— Mitchell Miller (@mmillerwtop) July 4, 2026
After posting the video (above), Miller added: “The group that’s been marching on Capitol Hill appears to be made up of members of the extremist Patriot Front, which has gathered in DC in the past,” and provided a link to George Washington University’s Program on Extremism, which describes Patriot Front as “a white nationalist organization founded in 2017 by Thomas Rousseau following the deadly ‘Unite the Right’ rally on August 12, 2017, in Charlottesville, Virginia.”
Patriot Front’s ideology “is built on the perception that White American culture and heritage are under threat from multiple angles and are facing complete annihilation if no action is taken.”
The group marched away from Union Station, carrying various flags, including Confederate flags. pic.twitter.com/Xo0WDH2B9O
— Mitchell Miller (@mmillerwtop) July 4, 2026
[NOTE: In 2024, before Trump returned to the White House, his supporter and financial backer Elon Musk appeared to endorse a right-wing conspiracy theory accusing the FBI of controlling the Patriot Front. Musk amplified a photo of Patriot Front members being arrested and wrote, “This does seem odd. Why no mask removal after arrest?”]
In 2025, with Trump back in the Oval Office, podcaster Joe Rogan also claimed members of the Patriot Front are federal agents and that the group disbanded after Trump made Kash Patel director of the FBI.
In addition to a Confederate flag, some of the estimated 400 men in D.C. carried the Fascio flag, which was flown in Fascist Italy under dictator Benito Mussolini. The GW Program on Extremism says “the use of the fascio is intended to combine fascist imagery with American patriotism.”
The New York Times quoted Mary McCord, former assistant attorney general for national security under Obama and Trump, confirming the group in D.C. “definitely looks like Patriot Front.”
In an example of the diversity of opinion contained in what remains the “American experiment” in democracy, in Philadelphia on July 4, Ford Fischer reported on video (below) that “hundreds of veterans and their supporters chant ‘freedom over fascism!’ as they prepare for anti-Trump March here in Philadelphia on America’s 250th birthday.”
NOW: Hundreds of veterans and their supporters chant “freedom over fascism!” as they prepare for anti-Trump March here in Philadelphia on America’s 250th birthday. pic.twitter.com/vroPtKnTlR
— Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) July 4, 2026