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.”

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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

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