The white supremacist group Identity Evropa placed flyers on the campus of Rutgers University, one of the most heavily-Jewish colleges in the country. Image by Twitter

WASHINGTON (JTA) — A leading white supremacist who toured the White House grounds was part of a garden tour that is open to the public, the White House said.

Patrick Casey, who leads Identity Evropa, posted photos on Twitter on Wednesday of him posing on the White House grounds. “Evropa has landed at the White House!” he said.

“He was one of more than twenty-five thousand people who came to the White House Fall Garden Tour, which is open to the public,” Sarah Sanders, the White House spokeswoman, told JTA in an email. “Free tickets are made available to anyone who wants to attend.”

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Identity Evropa coined the phrase, “You will not replace us,” which refers to a conspiracy theory that Jews are masterminding a plan to replace whites with non-whites.

Identity Evropa participated in the neo-Nazi march in Charlottesville, Va. in August 2017 that ended with violence and a deadly attack on counter protesters allegedly carried out by a white supremacist. During that march, the Identity Evropa slogan was echoed in the phrase, “Jews will not replace us.”

President Donald Trump equivocated on condemning the march, blaming both sides for the violence and saying that both the marchers and the counter protesters included “fine people.” White supremacists and neo-Nazis praised Trump for his reaction. A broad array of Jewish groups and lawmakers from both parties criticized him.

Jonathan Greenblatt, the director of the Anti-Defamation League demanded that the White House explain Casey’s presence. “The White House should be #NoPlaceForHate,” Greenblatt said on Twitter.

Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount