A small group of white nationalists interrupted a book talk Saturday at D.C.’s popular Politics and Prose bookstore during an event for the Antiracist Book Festival.
The interruption came while author Jonathan Metzl was discussing his latest book, “Dying of Whiteness: How the Politics of Racial Resentment Is Killing America’s Heartland,” at the Connecticut Avenue Politics and Prose location.
Metzl is a professor of psychology and sociology at Vanderbilt University.
A witness to the event told WTOP that while Metzl spoke in front of people attending the festival, a crowd of less than a dozen people — one carrying a megaphone — walked up to the stage and chanted “this land is our land” repeatedly before walking out of the bookstore in a single-file line.
A band of “white nationalists” just interrupted a talk by @JonathanMetzl about his new book called “Dying of Whitness” at @PoliticsProse. @PoPville pic.twitter.com/nlXRXdAkcX
— Katy Cain (@KatyCain526) April 27, 2019
The group also chanted “AIM,” apparently in reference to the American Identity Movement — a rebranding of the white supremacist organization Identity Evropa which gained infamy over its involvement with the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017.
The interruption did not last long, and no physical contact between the protesters and those attending the event was reported.
WTOP’s Alejandro Alvarez contributed to this report.
