Members of the Patriot Front marched around D.C. on July 4 and rode the Metro, at times in close proximity to people of color riding the train alone. The Anti-Defamation League defines them as a white supremacist group.
Photos captured by Getty Images show an Asian American man surrounded by masked men.
D.C. resident Roswell Encina is the man shown. He said the images took his breath away.
“Nothing really prepares you for something like that, and you tend to tense up and kind of wonder what’s happening,” he told News4 in an exclusive interview.
Encina was headed to a Fourth of July party in Maryland when Patriot Front members boarded his train. He said he tried to avoid eye contact and stay safe.
“I’m not the first person to go through all of this. There’s Ruby Bridges; there’s so many African American kids and teenagers and students from the ‘50s and ‘60s that went through worse,” he said. “And this is when you realize you have to use that courage that they all went through to go through something like that.”
He also drew on his past experience. Five years ago, Encina was riding Metro when a group of kids threw coffee on him and another Asian American passenger and left the other, non-Asian passengers alone.
“I can’t believe this is happening,” he told News4 at the time.
Speaking Monday, he said it’s hard to believe five years have passed.
“It’s just a reminder of the divisions in this country,” he said.
An extremism expert spoke with News4 about what the group was hoping to achieve by marching on July 4.
“Their message to America is that it is for whites only,” said Luke Baumgartner of the Program on Extremism at George Washington University. “That’s their main goal, is publicity, and that’s what a lot of extremist groups go for.”
Encina said he’s holding on to his faith in humanity and still believes most people are inherently good.
“We have to stay hopeful. I think in times like this, that’s almost what you have to hold on to,” he said.
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