An illuminated procession is a procession held after dark so that lights carried by the participants form a spectacle. The lights will commonly be of the same type, so making a candlelight procession, lantern parade or torchlight march. [1]
Examples include the Christmas festival of Ndocciata in Italy; the Chinese Lantern Festival to celebrate the first full moon; and the daily procession of pilgrims to the grotto of Lourdes.
Torchlight processions were known already in Ancient Greece where it was connected with Ancient Greek religion. Until today they are part modern adaptations of Dionysia festival in Greece and elsewhere. [2]
Before the American Civil War in the U.S. illuminated processions were held as a way of promotion of political parties. That includes mass torch light processions in 1858 at Hartford Connecticut, the Republican Party in New York City in 1860 [3] and in Galesburg, Illinois in 1884. [4]
Processions of skiers holding torches or flares while skiing down a slope at night has been a scheduled event of winter festivals since at least 1903. [5]
The Far-right and Nationalist groups have had a long history of torchlight marches. [6]
During the 1930s Nazi Germany in some of its Nuremberg rallies used torchlight marches.
On 1 January 2014, Stepan Bandera's 105th birthday was celebrated by a torchlight procession of 15,000 people in the centre of Kyiv and thousands more rallied near his statue in Lviv. [7] [8] [9] The march was supported by the far-right Svoboda party and some members of the center-right Batkivshchyna. [10]
In 2017, During the Unite the Right rally that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia. a group of white nationalists –variously numbered from "dozens" [11] to "about 250" [12] –gathered for an unannounced (and unsanctioned by the city) march through the University of Virginia's campus. They marched towards the university's Lawn chanting Nazi and white supremacist slogans, including "White lives matter"; "You will not replace us"; and "Jews will not replace us". [13] [14] (The phrase "You will not replace us" has been reported by the Anti-Defamation League to "reflect the white supremacist world view that ... the white race is doomed to extinction by an alleged 'rising tide of color' purportedly controlled and manipulated by Jews". [15] ) The Nazi slogan "Blood and Soil" was also used. [16] [14] [11] [17] The group was primarily composed of white men, [17] many of them wielding tiki torches. [14] [17] [18]
In Estonia Conservative People's Party of Estonia The party's affiliated nationalist youth movement Blue Awakening is the main organizer of the annual torchlight march through Tallinn on 24 February, Independence Day of Estonia. The first Independence Day torchlight march was held in 2014. According to Blue Awakening, the torchlight march is meant to honor those who have fallen for the nation of Estonia and to signify that Estonian youth have not abandoned the nationalist principles. [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] The event has been harshly criticized by the Simon Wiesenthal Center that described it as "Nuremberg-esque" and likened the ideology of the participants to that of the Estonian nazi collaborators. [24] [25]
Stepan Andriyovych Bandera was a Ukrainian far-right leader of the radical militant wing of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, the OUN-B.
The National Socialist Movement (NSM) is a Neo-Nazi organization based in the United States. It was a part of the Nationalist Front. Once considered to be the largest and most prominent National Socialist organization in the United States, in recent years its membership and prominence have plummeted. It is classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
The Conservative People's Party of Estonia is a nationalist and right-wing populist political party in Estonia, currently led by Martin Helme. It was founded in March 2012, with the merger of People's Union of Estonia and Estonian Patriotic Movement. Its first leader, Margo Miljand, served as the chairman until 2013 when he was succeeded by Mart Helme. Its popularity remained low until late 2014, when the party began to draw supporters from the right; further, in the 2015 Estonian parliamentary election, it passed the electoral threshold and won seats in parliament for the first time. Since then its support has grown, turning it into one of the largest parties in Estonia. In the 2019 Estonian parliamentary election, EKRE placed third, winning 19 seats in total. Mart was succeeded as party chairman by his son, Martin Helme, in July 2020.
Richard Bertrand Spencer is an American neo-Nazi, antisemitic conspiracy theorist, and white supremacist. Spencer claimed to have coined the term "alt-right" and was the most prominent advocate of the alt-right movement from its earliest days. He advocates for the reconstitution of the European Union into a white racial empire, which he believes will replace the diverse European ethnic identities with one homogeneous "White identity".
Independence Day, formally the Anniversary of the Republic of Estonia, is a national holiday in Estonia commemorating the Estonian Declaration of Independence which was published in the capital city Tallinn on 24 February 1918, establishing the Republic of Estonia. Since then, it has been the national day of Estonia.
"Glory to Ukraine!" is a Ukrainian national salute, known as a symbol of Ukrainian sovereignty and resistance to foreign aggression. It is the battle cry of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It is often accompanied by the response "To the heroes — glory!".
The Traditionalist Worker Party (TWP) was a neo-Nazi political party active in the United States between 2013 and 2018, affiliated with the broader "alt-right" movement that became active within the U.S. during the 2010s. It was considered a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center's list.
Identity Evropa was an American neo-Nazi and white supremacist organization established in March 2016. It was rebranded as the American Identity Movement in March 2019. In November 2020, the group disbanded. Leaders and members of Identity Evropa, such as former leader Elliot Kline, praised Nazi Germany and pushed for what they described as the "Nazification of America".
The Unite the Right rally was a white supremacist rally that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia, from August 11 to 12, 2017. Marchers included members of the alt-right, neo-Confederates, neo-fascists, white nationalists, neo-Nazis, Klansmen, and far-right militias. Some groups chanted racist and antisemitic slogans and carried weapons, Nazi and neo-Nazi symbols, the Valknut, Confederate battle flags, Deus vult crosses, flags, and other symbols of various past and present antisemitic and anti-Islamic groups. The organizers' stated goals included the unification of the American white nationalist movement and opposing the proposed removal of the statue of General Robert E. Lee from Charlottesville's former Lee Park. The rally sparked a national debate over Confederate iconography, racial violence, and white supremacy. The event had hundreds of participants.
Jason Eric Kessler is an American neo-Nazi, white supremacist, and antisemitic conspiracy theorist. Kessler organized the Unite the Right rally held in Charlottesville, Virginia, on August 11–12, 2017, and the Unite the Right 2 rally held on August 12, 2018.
Christopher Charles Cantwell, also known as the Crying Nazi, is an American white supremacist, neo-Nazi, and antisemitic conspiracy theorist.
James Orien Allsup is an American white supremacist, neo-nazi, and former political commentator and podcaster.
On August 12, 2017, DeAndre Harris, a Black man, was assaulted by six White men in an attack in a parking garage next to the police headquarters during the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. Images and video of the assault captured by photojournalist Zach Roberts went viral and became a symbol of the enmity underlying the protest.
The Nationalist Front is a loose coalition of radical right and white supremacists. The coalition was formed in 2016 by leaders of the neo-Nazi groups National Socialist Movement (NSM) and Traditionalist Worker Party (TWP). Its aim was to unite white supremacist and white nationalist groups under a common umbrella. Originally the group was named the Aryan Nationalist Alliance and was composed of neo-Nazi, Ku Klux Klan and White power skinhead organizations.
Vanguard America is an American white supremacist, neo-Nazi, neo-fascist organization. The organization is also a member of the Nationalist Front. The group gained significant attention after it was revealed that James Alex Fields had marched with them at the Unite the Right rally before being arrested on murder charges. The group has its roots in the alt-right movement.
Anti-Communist Action, also shortened to Anticom, is a right-wing to far-right political organization based in the United States and Canada. The group has described itself as "the right's response to antifa." Anticom has espoused neo-Nazi ideology and members have attended neo-Nazi events. The group has done security for various alt-right and white supremacist rallies. Anticom has overlapping membership with the neo-Nazi terrorist group Atomwaffen Division and has shared information on combat and bomb-making.
The "Unite the Right 2" rally was a white supremacist rally that occurred on August 12, 2018, at Lafayette Square near the White House in Washington, D.C., United States. It was organized by Jason Kessler to mark the first anniversary of the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, which ended in deadly violence and attracted both national and international attention.
Emily Gorcenski is an American data scientist and activist who now resides in Germany. Gorcenski was a counter-protester at the Unite the Right rally in 2017, and subsequently created the site 'First Vigil' to track the trial information of white nationalists.
Matthew Colligan is an online personality who posted neo-Nazi memes under the handle Millennial Matt alongside white nationalist Baked Alaska. His identity was revealed through his participation in the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. One of Colligan's repeated memes is the phrase “Big Bird did nothing wrong", which he has said in radio, tweets, and videos.
Sines v. Kessler was a civil lawsuit against various organizers, promoters, and participants in the Unite the Right rally, a white supremacist rally that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia in August 2017. The trial began in October 2021, and on November 23, the jury reached a mixed verdict in which they found various defendants liable on claims of civil conspiracy and race-based harassment or violence. They also found James A. Fields Jr., the perpetrator of the car attack against counterprotesters at the rally, liable for assault and battery and intentional infliction of harm. Altogether, the jury awarded the plaintiffs more than $25 million in punitive and compensatory damages, though this was later reduced by the judge to $2.35 million.