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On that Sunday morning, in his clerical collar and large black headphones among a crowd of white-robed bishops and before an estimated 1.5 million faithful, Peixoto swayed to the dance beat he mixed with clips of papal speeches.

At one point, his aide had to lower the wheelchair backwards to manoeuvre it from the pavement to the street, putting it - and the white-robed pope - at a 45 degree angle pointing skyward.

The nation’s capital, experts said, remains an attractive location for these hate groups, as it has for generations, including when white-robed Ku Klux Klan members marched down Pennsylvania Avenue in 1925.

As the sun set, this white-robed army corralled dozens of sheep into a small arena, where they prayed en masse before slaughtering and skinning the animals.

As my eyes became accustomed to the dark, I focused on a few tiny white-robed figures illuminated by dim rays of sunlight from high windows.