Civil rights organizations and Louisville city officials are vehemently denouncing a march that took place over the weekend in which members of a group known to be white supremacists marched through downtown streets while holding Confederate flags and shields and giving a speech close to Metro Hall.
The group was spotted in a coordinated configuration on Saturday afternoon and is thought to be the Patriot Front, a well-known white supremacist organization that the Southern Poverty Law Center has classified as a hate group. Social media videos show the masked marchers carrying shields and waving different versions of the American and Confederate flags, which are common features of the group’s open protests.
In a prompt social media response, Mayor Craig Greenberg condemned the group and its presence in the city.
“Earlier today, a white supremacist group briefly marched downtown. I strongly condemn this group, their message and their activity,” Greenberg wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “While the rest of our city is celebrating our country’s freedoms this weekend, they are focused on hate and have no place in our city or anywhere else.”
Louisville Metro Police said they were aware of the demonstration as it occurred and monitored it closely, but no intervention was made.
“No unlawful activity was observed, and no intervention was required on our part,” said LMPD spokesperson Matthew Sanders, noting that the event had “no impact on traffic or other operations in the city.” Sanders added, “It is our hope that nobody gives this group the coverage and attention that it is seeking.”
In a scathing statement released on Sunday, the NAACP Louisville Branch described the protest as an obvious act of racial intimidation. The group added that it thought the march may have violated local law because it was conducted without the necessary city permit.
“It’s unfortunate that this group felt comfortable enough to display its venom and ignorance on a Louisville city street,” said Raymond Burse, president of the Louisville NAACP. “It will never be tolerated.”
In a statement, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) also connected the incident to a larger trend of extremist activity across the country.
“We condemn all attempts nationwide to promote white supremacy and the racist legacy of the Confederacy,” said a CAIR spokesperson. “All Americans should encourage unity and mutual respect, not division and hatred.”
The Patriot Front emerged following the deadly 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
According to the Anti-Defamation League, the organization has been in charge of most white supremacist propaganda disseminated in the United States in recent years, frequently through planned flash demonstrations like the one that took place in Louisville.
This article appears in Jul 4-31, 2025.