Neo-Nazi activists cause chaos in D.C.

[AlphaCentauri]

Source: San Diego Tribune

WASHINGTON – A march by a busload of neo-Nazi activists on Constitution Avenue yesterday wreaked havoc on a balmy afternoon in the nation's capital, bringing traffic to a halt, filling the streets with hundreds of police officers and provoking an ugly confrontation on the sidelines that resulted in at least three arrests.

About 30 marchers from the Michigan-based National Socialist Movement, waving red swastika flags and shouting, “Sieg Heil!” emerged about 2:30 p.m. from a bus one block from the White House and strode toward the Capitol, flanked by thick cordons of police walking the route in riot gear and hundreds of officers on horseback, bicycles and motorcycles.

The marchers said their purpose was to denounce illegal immigration and offer white Americans an alternative to the two-party political system. Many wore black storm-trooper uniforms, boots and armbands.
The atmosphere was tense, and before the event started, a clash broke out between march supporters and local demonstrators who came to condemn the message.



Read more: http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20080420/news_1n20nation.html

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More from the WP http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/19/AR2008041901894.html


"People marching in brown shirts and swastikas is a tool of intimidation and terrorism. We came out here to oppose them so they won't feel they can do it safely," said Dan Peterson, 23, a D.C. resident who was arrested.

[murielm99]

1. I wish people would stay home and ignore those

fools when they have a rally. I don't mean ignore the harm that groups like these do -- I am grateful that the Southern Poverty Law Center and other law enforcement keeps tabs on them.

Just stay home when they strut around like idiots. Let them stew in their hate. We had a demonstration here a couple of years ago. It was in our county seat. Three toothless hags from Stormfront showed up to rally. But there were hundreds of counter demonstrators, so law enforcement had to send all kinds of extra people to make sure no one got hurt.

[rockymountaindem]

2. No

The kind of people these hate groups seek to impress by their actions understand and respond to displays of force. That's the whole reason they pull stunts like this in the first place. Outnumbering them in the streets by 10-1 will make them appear weak and scare away potential supporters.

[Warpy]

4. Right, they obeyed the law in that they had a permit

or the cops wouldn't have been deployed. Shouting and appropriate gestures are just fine should one feel compelled to go out in opposition. Any violence from either side in front of so many cops was just plain stupid and should be dealt with by the courts so that the violent don't end up on the Darwin list.

I don't bother going out to their strut parties. I just speak a lot more truth than they ever wanted to hear to them in real life. Most of them leave quickly and leave me alone after that.

[Turbineguy]

5. I agree

but it's so tempting to just jump out and beat the shit out of these assholes!

[OKthatsIT]

38. They get a permit because they're probably FBI 'operatives'

so it has been proven before in Miami, Clevelend, etc..

[havocmom]

3. Neo-nazis in WH do same

[Donnachaidh]

6. If our government continues to allow our economy to tank

These groups will be right there, ready to sign people up. Hitler gathered his forces from frightened people who had no hope. And we've already seen that there are people in this country stupid and blind enough to swallow the hype whole and completely.

Is there more of these a-holes showing up lately? Having skinheads march on Washington is NOT a good sign. :puke:

[murielm99]

18. I agree.

When things get bad, these kinds of groups attract people who are looking for easy answers. They need someone to blame.

My father has told me that the Klan gained a toehold in his portion of Minnesota during the Depression.

[PittPoliSci]

7. here's an interesting note.

"The marchers said their purpose was to denounce illegal immigration and offer white Americans an alternative to the two-party political system. Many wore black storm-trooper uniforms, boots and armbands."

I think it is funny as hell that they want to offer people a "serious" alternative, yet, they are wearing fucking COSTUMES!

Stupid Nazi pricks. The irony is hilarious, even if what they are saying is the beyond hateful and evil.

[billyoc]

8. I love it when Focus On The Family plays dress-up.

So festive!

[madamesilverspurs]

36. Aw, you had to go and say THAT!

Our state convention is being held next month in Colorado Springs, AKA Dobsonville, AKA Focus on the Family HQ. It ain't as if the heebie-jeebies weren't already hovering. . .

[MarinCoUSA]

9. Crap! I coulda been there shouting with my swastika & holding a LARGE POSTER OF SEAN HANNITY!

Sheesh! Waddabunca morains.

Another missed Mel Brooks moment I wont ever get back in my life!

[rasputin1952]

17. "Springtime for Hitler and Germany"...

"don't be shtupid, be a smartee...come und join the nazi party!...:rofl:

Mel Brooks Moment...:D

[melody]

10. Sounds like an interesting way for the Feds to associate anti-war left with Nazis via two "marches"

Going along nicely with BillO's crap.

I wonder if Cheney has friends at central casting. lol

[Fozzledick]

11. Neo-Nazi's wearing swastikas and homemade costumes don't worry me

They're dumb, easy to recognize, repel more support than they attract even from right-wingers, and the only "leaders" they've had have been self-hating Jewish schizophrenics.

The Neo-Nazi's that worry me are the ones that wear business suits with flag pins on the lapels and call themselves "conservatives" to disguise their corporatist agenda.

[tom_paine]

21. Bingo. You hit the nail on the head.

Nazis and Bushies have common cause, they just go about achieving those goals differently.

Always have, and apparently, always will.

Think this is hyperbole? Not in the least. Click onthe link below and listen to how much "hyperbole" it is:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/document/document_20070723.shtml

[New Dawn]

26. Good points.

[bushmeister0]

12. Michigan is an economic disaster area, the canary in the mine.

It has been for decades, but it's really bad nowadays. If you want to see how bad things can get in the rest of the country because of the economic royalist's mismanagement of the financial system, just look to Michigan.

The Southern Poverty Law Center lists 26 different hate groups in that state (2 less than Ohio).

http://www.splcenter.org/intel/map/?source=redirect&url=tolerance-maps-hate#s=MI

[gratuitous]

14. And see? All those people who lost their jobs aren't bitter

They joined the Neo-Nazis! Looks like that one guy was wrong again.

[bushmeister0]

15. When ever isn't he?

[Baby Snooks]

13. Confusing headline...

"Neo-Nazi activists cause chaos in D.C."

I thought maybe the Republicans had started a riot or something.

[rasputin1952]

16. Far be it from me to "defend" nazi's, but I find it somewhat

strange that nazi's can hold a march and a "protest", but God forbid, anyone who wants to "protest" bush has to go to a "Free Speech Zone", and be caged in like animals. While I defend the Right of nazi's to speak under the First Amendment, it is appalling that others can not.

I believe that Phelps has his First Amendment Rights as well...but in both cases, nazi's of Phelps, thye had better be ready and willing to defend their preposterous positions. Kudo's to whomever brought the MLK speech and played it...that was a stroke of genius...:D

[Hannah Bell]

22. yep, that's interesting, isn't it? also interesting that 30 people get

press coverage, while 100s don't.

[rasputin1952]

23. So let "good" Americans look like they are ready to riot, while

nazi's get a pass...somehow, in bush's America, this makes sense...:eyes:

[krispos42]

19. The headline is about 7 years too late

Hi, Agent Mike! :hi:

[Behind the Aegis]

20. They aren't half as scary as the Nazis who hide in plain sight! n/t

[santamargarita]

24. You mean the NAZI Bastard in our White House?

K&R

[Tangerine LaBamba]

25. Question ........

Why are they "neo-Nazis"? I mean, a Nazi is a Nazi is a Nazi, regardless of the era.

How are they different from the Nazis of 1939, just to name a year?

There's nothing new about their hate, or have I missed something?

Now, "neo-conservative," that's a term I understand, because those mindless pricks have nothing to do with the original conservatives.

[stlsaxman]

27. Excellent point!

succinct and correct-

ain't a damned thing "neo" about these slugs.

oh and welcome to DU!

:hi:

[Tangerine LaBamba]

28. Thank you

For the nice greeting, and for clearing up what I've been wondering for a long time.

Isn't it funny how we mindlessly just let these things go by, as if calling someone a "neo-Nazi" somehow distances them from the original bastards?

[stlsaxman]

32. you're quite welcome.

funny,too, as a people we seemed to have been trained to overlook these subtle differences. as if nuances are elitist and anything elitist is bad.

but what scares me most of this article is that it seems the Nazi's always get the police protection. what kinda shit is that?

[Tangerine LaBamba]

35. First Amendment shit

Dangerous speech needs the most protection, and their speech certainly qualifies as dangerous. Stupid, too, but it's part of the deal we make when we choose to respect our Constitution.

If we shut them up, who's going to try to shut us up when it's our turn?

Well, yeah, that mofo in the Oval Office, but we're kissing him goodbye soon, and he's exactly NOT what we want our country to be.

The other wording that gets me is "pro-life," as if we're not all "pro-life." They copped that phrase early on, and it was a brilliant move, given that the alternative is "anti-life." So, we box ourselves in with "pro-choice," which is pretty limited and easily threatened.

I really love, too, when someone starts harping on "the rights of the pre-born."

I, myself, am "pre-dead."

[stlsaxman]

39. Orwellian doublespeak

anti-choice is a good tag "pro-lifers". a local progressive teevee personality uses that one a lot. "pre-dead" is awesome!

there was a sign outside a Catholic Church that read "God Is Pro-Life" that someone carefully painted over to read "God Is Prolific". But this was back in the late 80's when the masses were intelligent enough to know what it meant.

[Javaman]

33. The difference is...

these are wanna-be nazi's. they are ultra right wing drug addicts who sleep late, get fat, overly tattooed, unshaven and complain that everyone else in the world is out to get them. basically, if you will,the nazi's of old were genocidal fucks who dressed well, these are basically the white trash of the nazi's.

[AlphaCentauri]

37. good point

[BreweryYardRat]

29. Pity nobody wired these fucks' bus with a bomb while they were marching.

I have no sympathy and no mercy for anyone who gets themselves up in Nazi regalia. Once you put on a Nazi swastika, you cease to be a human being, as far as I'm concerned. A few snipers along the route or a bomb in their bus could have (very slightly) improved the overall state of the world.

[Thothmes]

40. so your recommendation is to

murder those that are not to your political liking? Sounds like a rather republican idea to me.

[madamesilverspurs]

30. So

the 28% are finally stepping forward, eh?

[KoKo]

31. Welcome to BushWorld.......it's going to get worse......n/t

[windoe]

34. An alternative to the 2 party system-nice try.

Better get back in the bunkers, the calculations were off again.

[jaksavage]

41. They give Socialists

a bad name.

[AlphaCentauri]

42. you know they are not socialist, they are racist fascist