A group of white supremacist demonstrators marched through Greensboro on Sunday, drawing a counterprotest from community members and prompting a police response.
Around 3:30 p.m., approximately 10 to 12 people dressed in black clothing, face coverings, dark glasses and hats were seen marching along North Eugene Street and the surrounding area near Fisher Park. One demonstrator carried a Confederate battle flag, while another carried an early North Carolina state flag adopted after the state joined the Confederacy.
Abigail Seymour, who witnessed the demonstration, said she began documenting the group after learning that they were spreading racist and antisemitic messages. She said community members began following the demonstrators and telling them to leave the area.
According to Seymour, the demonstrators responded by shouting anti-Black and antisemitic slurs. As more residents joined the counterprotest, the group grew larger than the original demonstration. Participants chanted, “Racists, go home.”
Seymour said the demonstration lasted approximately 15 minutes before the demonstrators entered vehicles and left the area. She also described seeing one person raise a Nazi salute while the group was leaving.
Public records show that five people contacted police about the demonstration. Greensboro police said six officers were dispatched to the area. No further escalation was reported.
The incident drew a response from Greensboro City Council members. District 3 Councilmember April Parker said organized racial hatred, violence and intimidation have no place in the community while also emphasizing the constitutional protections for speech, assembly and political expression.
Parker referenced Greensboro’s history of racial and political violence, including the Nov. 3, 1979, Greensboro Massacre, when members of the Ku Klux Klan and a neo-Nazi group attacked an anti-Klan demonstration, killing five people. The North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources documents the 1979 violence and its connection to the city’s civil rights history.
District 4 Councilmember Adam Marshal also shared Parker’s statement, saying there is no place for racial hatred, antisemitism or intolerance in Greensboro.
The demonstration comes as Greensboro continues to confront its history of racial violence while community members and local officials respond to contemporary incidents involving hate speech and intimidation.
