White supremacist march allowed under free speech, US official says

Federal officials had no reason to stop a white supremacist group’s July 4 rally in Washington because of free speech protections, US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said on Sunday. Hundreds of masked members of the Patriot Front marched through the nation’s capital on Independence Day. Burgum told CNN’s State of the Union programme that the group did nothing illegal. The organisation holds white supremacist and anti-immigrant views. Burgum said this ideology is “nothing that I could possibly agree with,” but noted the law protects their right to assemble.