The planned nationwide rallies for the non-existent “White Lives Matter” movement coordinated for white nationalists largely failed to materialize around the nation, with the only one making any news coverage happening at the Huntington Beach Pier in California.
According to the Los Angeles Times, two people were arrested as several hundred people from opposing sides–the minority being in support of the white nationalists–gathered at the pier as local police and other law enforcement stood by in case violence broke out.
The Huntington Beach rally, which attracted Trump supporters and white nationalists on one side with hundreds of sane people on the other, was supposed to start at 1 p.m. local time, but people started gathering around 11 a.m. By 2 p.m., the groups had dissipated, with scattered arguments between individuals popping up.
In one incident, 59-year-old Peter Zazzara got into a shouting match with a group of counterprotesters who noticed Zazzara had a skull tattoo, known as a Totenkopf, on his arm. Zazzara said that it represented his membership in an “elite military unit,” although he refused to identify which one. The skull was a symbol of Nazi SS units.
Other protestors carried Trump 2020 and Gadsden flags, and some held signs and banners declaring their doubts about the severity of the “Wuhan virus.”
Counterprotesters made their own statements. A 65-year-old man held a sign that read, “Old White Guys Against Hate.” Another said “No H8 in HB.”
“I’m horrified by the violence against Black people, Mexican people, Asian people,” said Antonieta Gimeno, 78, who is Mexican and drove down from Los Angeles to participate in the counterprotest. “This is a small step, but the more people who stand in unity, the more we can show that in order for white lives to matter, Black lives have to matter too.”