TL;DR

  • Encina was travelling to Maryland on 4 July when masked Patriot Front members boarded his train.
  • A Getty Images photograph showed him surrounded by the group on Washington DC Metro.
  • He said he was “terrified” and texted friends so someone knew where he was.

A gay Filipino American civic leader has described being “terrified” after he was photographed seated on a Washington DC Metro train while masked white nationalists gathered around him on 4 July.

Roswell Encina, president and CEO of the US Capitol Historical Society, was travelling to a holiday party in Maryland when the encounter happened during the Fourth of July weekend, as the capital saw members of Patriot Front march through the city on the 250th anniversary of US independence.

Roswell Encina surrounded by masked white nationalists

The moment was captured in a Getty Images photograph by Finn Gomez that quickly spread online. The image shows Encina sitting as masked men in caps and sunglasses crowd around him on the train.

Encina told The Advocate he initially froze when the group boarded.

In this edit, JoJo Siwa (R) and Kylie Prew kiss with a broken heart next to them
“I think I froze a little bit,”

He said he worked out who the men were by noticing their patches and then discreetly searched for the group online. He also texted friends so someone knew where he was.

Asked whether he was scared, Encina said: “I would be lying if I said no.” He added: “I was terrified, honestly, just because I wasn’t sure what the motives were.”

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He said that when he saw “really hundreds of them” getting off at New Carrollton, “it really did kind of take my breath away.”

In a post on Instagram, Encina said the date gave the moment added meaning. “So sitting there, on the Fourth of July, I couldn’t help but think about the promise of America and the work still required to protect it,” he wrote.

Patriot Front is described by the Southern Poverty Law Centre as a white nationalist hate group. The organisation emerged from Vanguard America after the deadly 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville.

The episode is another reminder of how visible extremist activity can intersect with public life and transport in the US, including for LGBTQ people and other marginalised communities who may already be alert to threats in shared spaces.

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Alexander Rivera
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Alexander Rivera

Alex Rivera, a seasoned political journalist, brings over a decade of experience covering U.S. politics. An alumnus of Columbia University's Journalism School, Alex is known for insightful analyses of political trends a…

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