Saturday, September 16th, 2017 will surely go down as the strangest day for rallies in our nation’s capital since at least January, when millions of invisible people attended Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony.
Two different gatherings are taking place, quartered in different sections of the National Mall, but surely visible to one another: Trump supporters have come together to put on what they’re calling the “Mother of all Rallies,” with expected attendance undoubtedly in the zillions, and a rally with an actual purpose is also taking place. Juggalos, or fans of the band Insane Clown Posse, are in D.C. to protest what they call an unfair label from the FBI and Department of Justice classifying them as a “loosely organized hybrid gang.”
It’s clear which group has the more ardent supporters, and it isn’t the one I’m calling (for the purposes of this piece) “the Trumpettes.”
Donald Trump is known for his loyalty demands, but I’m not sure he’s ever met a Juggalo, because they showed up today:
WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 16: People gather for a rally during the Juggalo March at the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, September 16, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
That’s the Juggalos showing up. The Juggalo March, at the time of this writing, is just getting underway.
This, on the other hand, is the majority of the Trump rally happening just across the way:
WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 16: Pro-Trump security forces try to keep people away on the National Mall on September 16, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
You’ll note from the captions that these two photos are both by Getty photographer Tasos Katopodis. The Trump rally began, according to the Facebook event page, at 11 AM EDT, while the Juggalo March wasn’t scheduled until 2 PM Eastern.
The Trumpette organizers have tried to distance themselves from the white supremacists that organized the Charlottesville, Boston, and Portland rallies held in the name of “free speech.” Unfortunately for them, they don’t seem to realize that the majority of people who show up at those rallies don’t care who the president is, they just want to be allowed to shout racial slurs again without fear of public reprisal.
Reaction to the stark difference in attendance was widespread:
"The Juggalos outnumber the white supremacists at the Lincoln Memorial today." — is not a sentence I ever thought I'd write.
— Mikel Jollett (@Mikel_Jollett) September 16, 2017
Someday the Battle of Juggalos vs Trump supporters will be in a Ken Burns documentary.
"My dearest Martha, whoop whoop."#JuggaloMarch #MOAR pic.twitter.com/oHLV2rUiM1— Edmund Hanlon (@EdmundHanlon) September 16, 2017
There are more Juggalos marching today against Trump than pro-Trump folks marching in their "Mother of All Rallies". ?#JuggaloMarch #MOAR
— Charles Clymer?️? (@cmclymer) September 16, 2017
And in what must be a crushing blow to the Trumpettes, the Juggalos have Antifa, the “other side” that Trump cannot stop dreaming about every night, there in solidarity. Not being violent, not pepper spraying anyone, just together to show the love:
Antifascist contingent in solidarity with Juggalos at DC march against FBI gang classification pic.twitter.com/RZTbmCFaM9
— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) September 16, 2017
The Juggalos give a big "whoop whoop" to "hating Confederate monuments."
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) September 16, 2017
Welcome to 2017, everyone.
Featured image via Al Drago/Getty Images
