Dem lawmaker to lead vigil in New York park following anti-immigrant rally

Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.) and other officials will hold a vigil on Tuesday to protest a neo-Nazi group’s anti-immigration rally in a New York City park over the weekend.

“Happening today: ⁦@RepEspaillat⁩ will hold a speak out against racism event ‘Uptown Standing Together Against Racism & Xenophobia’ today at 6:30p at Billings Lawn at Ft. Tryon Park,” Espaillat said. 

Happening today: ⁦@RepEspaillat⁩ will hold a speak out against racism event “Uptown Standing Together Against Racism & Xenophobia” today at 6:30p at Billings Lawn at Ft. Tryon Park. ⁦@CnDelarosa⁩ ⁦@MarkLevineNYC⁩ ⁦@Uptowncollectiv⁩ pic.twitter.com/A5Gbj6T0Rg

— Adriano Espaillat (@RepEspaillat) July 31, 2018

The Democratic lawmaker’s tweet came just days after the group, Identity Evropa, unveiled a banner reading “Stop the invasion, end immigration” during a rally at Fort Tyron Park in the New York City neighborhood of Inwood. 

{monads}Gothamist reported that members, who kept their faces hidden, walked throughout the park waving American flags and flags with the group’s logo on them. 

Uptown Collective posted multiple photos of the event on Twitter. One of them shows the anti-immigration banner being unfurled over the arched Billings Arcade, according to Gothamist. 

White Supremacist group Identity Evropa came Uptown to Fort Tryon Park yesterday after staging a provocation down town at the Mexican consulate. “We will not stand by while we are replaced in the land of our forefathers-this country is ours.” pic.twitter.com/s2gDGctCLq

— Uptown Collective (@Uptowncollectiv) July 29, 2018

Here are some more pics supplied by the group themselves. We are simply at a loss for words…. pic.twitter.com/1SPlT29W13

— Uptown Collective (@Uptowncollectiv) July 30, 2018

The Southern Poverty Law Center, which has designated Identity Evropa a hate group, notes that it “is at the forefront of the racist ‘alt-right’s’ effort to recruit white, college-aged men and transform them into the fashionable new face of white nationalism.”