WASHINGTON (DC News Now) — A self-proclaimed white supremacist group demonstrated on Capitol Hill on Independence Day, ahead of the America 250 celebrations in the District.

The group, Patriot Front, is recognized by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a white nationalist hate group that is an offshoot of Vanguard America, a now-inactive neo-Nazi group known for leading the deadly 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Va.

George Washington University’s Program on Extremism explained, “Patriot Front is a white nationalist and fascist organization that promotes the idea of a homogenous, white ethno-state in the United States. The group advocates for the preservation of white European culture, viewing multiculturalism, immigration, and diversity as existential threats to its vision of America.”

According to the Associated Press, hundreds of uniformed members of the group could be seen wearing white masks, carrying drums, combat shields, and flags. The group could be heard chanting, “Reclaim America,” as they marched past the U.S. Capitol building towards Union Station. Group members were also seen crowding several Metro stations.

Some of the flags included the Confederate flag and the fascio flag, which combines “fascist imagery with American patriotism” and was first used in fascist Italy under Benito Mussolini, according to GWU.

According to the Anti-Defamation League, Patriot Front is considered one of the U.S.’ most visible white supremacist groups, frequently participating in localized “flash demonstrations.”

As described in Patriot Front’s manifesto, the group claimed, “The time of the Republic has passed in America as the system grows too weak to perform its duty. … The damage done to this nation and its people will not be fixed if every issue requires the approval and blessing from the dysfunctional American democratic system. Democracy has failed in this once great nation.”

According to U.S. Park Police, no injuries were reported, and there is no threat to public safety.

Officers with the Metropolitan Police Department told DC News Now, “The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) was tracking First Amendment activities that occurred this morning in the Eastern Market neighborhood. MPD recognizes the rights of individuals to peacefully express their views and remains committed to maintaining public safety and security for DC residents and visitors.”

DC News Now reached out to the Southern Poverty Law Center for comment but has yet to hear back.

The Trump administration will not seek new bids to repair the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said Sunday as he faced new questions about the troubled project and the taxpayer money involved.

Like President Donald Trump, Burgum said he was 100% sure that vandals caused the damage to the century-old Reflecting Pool on the National Mall. Trump has charged that a 350-foot gash was cut into the pool’s liner in the midst of recent renovations, while Burgum described it as multiple cuts adding up to that figure. He also said the pool would have to be at least partially drained in the coming week to finish the repairs.

The repairs will not be opened up to new contractors, he said.

“We’ll use the same company, because they did a fantastic job,” Burgum told CNN’s “State of the Union.” ”Thankfully, the vandalism was small. It was bad. I mean, it could cost tens of thousands of dollars to repair, so then it could fall into a felony … just like damaging any other government property could. But the job that was done to fix the Reflecting Pool was done extremely well.”

Trump this spring pledged to beautify the Reflecting Pool before the nation’s 250th birthday celebrations on July Fourth. Water was drained and the Republican president directed that the bottom be painted a color he called “American flag blue.” But after the site was restored, the water was plagued by an algae bloom for more than a week, and pieces of the new coating have appeared to be peeling off the bottom.

The pool was closed for the Independence Day celebration, but Burgum said that was due to a safety issue related to the fireworks.

The evolving debate over the Reflecting Pool has inflamed the broader fight over Trump’s aggressive push to overhaul Washington landmarks, including the White House, nearly two years into his final term in office.

Authorities have arrested more than a half dozen people related in relation to Reflecting Pool damage, including former Olympian David Hearn, who was indicted last week on a felony of property destruction.

The top federal prosecutor in the District of Columbia, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, said Hearn ripped up recently installed sealant on the pool in “a deliberate act” that caused more than $1,000 in damage. She accused him of “forcefully and violently” pulling up the bottom liner “with both hands” and acting belligerently toward an employee who told him to stop.

Hearn’s lawyers, Democracy Defenders Fund co-founder Norm Eisen and Mary Dohrmann, said the charges were “outrageous and should be alarming to every American.” Eisen and Dohrmann construed the case as representative of “the misuse of government power against an ordinary citizen based on a concocted narrative.”

Burgum was asked and did not answer directly whether there was photographic evidence of vandals cutting the pool’s liner. He was also asked whether Hearn should face a 10-year prison sentence, which is the maximum legal penalty for his charge.

“Just because you were a former something doesn’t exclude you from the law today,” Burgum told CNN. “The courts will decide.”

Meanwhile, questions loom over the no-bid contracts for the project that were awarded to vendors with prior ties to Trump.

Ohio-based Green Water Solutions, also known as Greenwater Services, was given a $1.7 million contract to install a water-purification system in the Reflecting Pool, while Virginia-based Atlantic Industrial Coatings was awarded $14.7 million to repaint and waterproof the pool’s concrete floor.

About 10 Democratic senators and House members are investigating the pool project.

“Taxpayers deserve a full explanation of how these failures occurred and who will be held accountable for correcting them,″ said a letter signed last month by six senators.

Burgum also appeared on ABC’s “This Week.”