White Supremacy Rally Draws Counter-Protesters, Heavy LAPD Deployment
Eric Richardson
[Flickr]
Members of the National Socialist Movement march to their cars after holding a rally on City Hall's South Lawn.
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — Counter-protesters outnumbered a group of demonstrators from the National Socialist Movement outside City Hall today by a ten-to-one margin, but the two groups combined were still smaller than the deployment of police officers charged with keeping them apart.
The rally, held under a permit issued to the white supremacy group, brought roughly 40 group members and supporters. They stood next to City Hall's south steps dressed in black and holding flags that included swastikas. Their speeches were very specifically aimed at the approximately 500 counter-protesters, who were only allowed to get as close as the 1st street sidewalk.
While the speech many have been ugly, the event was largely peaceful. There were two assaults in the crowd, LAPD Commander David Doan said afterward, along with 3 or 4 arrests related to bottles and rocks that were thrown at the white supremacists as they got into their vehicles.
Doan, the incident commander for the event, declined to say how many LAPD officers had been deployed for the rally.
"Our primary responsibility is to make sure that it's done safely and to keep the peace," he said. "I think we did an outstanding job today, allowing unfortunately some hateful speech, but that's what the First Amendment's about."
Fabricio Vai (@dataxy) on April 17, 2010, at 05:56PM – #1
A socialist group that worships a fascist far-righ dictator. I never thought I would ever see those two together. A socialist is an idealist, a radical. These people got the name wrong.
Eric Richardson (@blogdowntown) on April 17, 2010, at 06:02PM – #2
Fabricio: My wife -- who teaches a unit on the Holocaust each year to her 9th grade history class -- pointed out that Hilter's political party was the "National Socialist German Workers' Party." This group is connected to his use of the word, not the typical use.
Guest on April 17, 2010, at 10:01PM – #3
Not only was Hitler associated with the word "socialist", he also was both a vegan and animal rights' supporter.
With growing numbers of progressives becoming increasingly irritated at Israel -- which they perceive as the unsympathetic, unfriendly heavy in the Middle East -- and, in turn, translating that into a peculiar form of anti-Semitism (which is found in places such as President Obama's former church, presided over by Reverend Jeremiah Wright), I can easily imagine some odd bedfellows starting to form in our current times.
Guest on April 17, 2010, at 10:58PM – #4
Oh yes, the liberals are huge anti-semites. Especially liberals like Charles Schumer and Barney Frank. They are the biggest LOL. Oh and Obama is a huge anti-semites too and that's why he hired fellow anti-semite -- Rahm Emanuel. Rahm has got to be the worst anti-semite operating within liberal-nazi circles.
God you are such a douche.
garagehero on April 17, 2010, at 11:04PM – #5
heehee...white supremacists hide behind a phalanx of LAPD. Exactly what are they supremacists of?
garagehero on April 17, 2010, at 11:05PM – #6
Haha...white supremacists....just like the teabaggers, and the minutemen, nothing but a bunch of welfare & workers comp cheats, underemployed & unemployed drunk drug-addled slackers!!!
DawnC on April 17, 2010, at 11:30PM – #7
Why be a Nazi when you can just worship the devil and cut out the middleman?
Guest on April 17, 2010, at 11:58PM – #8
Interesting: one of those neo storm troopers in the background of Eric's pic, the woman, well - she does look a little oriental, doesn't she?
I once worked for a small firm in the S.F. Valley. While riding in the boss' car to a jobsite, if he should happen to see any minorities walking along the street, well - he'd foam at the mouth. I hated that job. It was during the height of the recession during Reagan's first term. Lucky me that I simply had a job and there were none to be had otherwise, not until the rebound of 1984.
Most interesting: my immediate supervisor was a gay nazi. He LOVED Ron and Nancy being in the White House, couldn't say enough about their sophisticated style and how he was so sick and tired of being reminded of how jews had suffered so, during WWII.
One morning he came stomping in mad as hell at George Dukemajean, who as governor had just vetoed a measure passed by the democratic legislature outlawing job discrimination based on sexual identity. I found a new job and moved on. My last week on the job, well, Nazi boy was out sick. It so turned out that he'd come down with full blown AIDS under the reign of his hero, Saint Ronnie. Yes, the chief executive (with the suspect son) who did so much to keep the subject disease under the rug. So the storm trooper died a little over a year later. He hadn't remembered me from Verdugo Hills High School where he'd graduated in the class ahead of mine during the Sixties. But I remembered him as well as his father. Talk about a wind-up toy...
Dixon on April 18, 2010, at 12:14AM – #9
Does anyone know if Michelle 'Bombshell' McGee made an appearance?
Guest on April 18, 2010, at 12:32AM – #10
And, by contrast, that means you're a straight Communist?
Bert Green (@bgfa) on April 18, 2010, at 01:10AM – #11
In 1930's Germany the Nazi Party was officially called the "Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterparte" (National Socialist German Worker's Party), and the party meant to form a fusion between nationalism, usually associated with the right, with Socialism, a product of the left. The State would, under Nazism (a fusion of the 2 words Natonal and Sozial), control all means of production, as in Socialist theory, but use the method of the fascists, which was to direct all private industry to operate in the interests if the State. All of this was directed by one dictator, Adolph Hitler.
However, these so called "American Nazis" are simply pathetic garden variety racists and extremists. It's great that hundreds of people stepped up to oppose them and call them out.
Guest on April 18, 2010, at 02:24AM – #12
weather i think they are right or wrong. may i ask why people see them so offensive? when to me you have thousands of illegal immigrants running around in city's in the USA protesting and having marches demanding free crap from our government that they would not ask from their own. i could care less about the views of the neo's at least they are Americans they have the right to free speech. the aliens need to go back to there toilet and QQ some more there. leave our streets to Americans to protest OK
Jack
Guest on April 18, 2010, at 10:36AM – #13
The more shocking question is... How the heck did a "white supremacy group" get approved for a permit to hold a rally in front of City Hall?
Guest on April 18, 2010, at 11:42AM – #14
Not only is Bert Green historically correct:
Hitler never took anything away from the industrialists in Germany, but the Nazi state actually ran it through the top industrial leaders, who were Party members. Their goal: to gear up for war eg IB Farbin, Bayer, Mercedes and all the rest. He played the "left" elements of the early NSDAP "SA" party against the radical right nationalists. Hitler purged the SA in 1937 I believe killing its leader Rohlm. "Night of the Long Knives".
Be aware Hitler attempted to destroy all modern, non "Germanic" art. Best example was the Nuremburg art show which had the new "approved "Volk Art" or People's art, I believe in 1938. YouTube has film of all this too. Non-approved artists were sent to concentration camps for "reeducation into the "Volk" community. Many were just outright killed. All expressionist, Impressionist and other "modern artists" had to flee or get sent to camps.
Howie on the Hill
J-M on April 18, 2010, at 12:45PM – #15
Some real nuts turning up on this blog nowadays. I guess it's a sign of success though, because they sound suspiciously like the nuts on the LA Times comments. Some bigot in the Midwest reacting to articles about Los Angeles, that center of communist, gay-loving, illegal immigrants...
Guest on April 18, 2010, at 01:43PM – #16
NEVER AGAIN!
CAUTION NOT FOR CHILDREN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_49fhzlk_W8
Howie on the Hill
David McBane on April 18, 2010, at 03:46PM – #17
Guest #13 - The City has to issue a permit or they can be sued for denying people their 1st Amendment right to assemble. What's worse -- Nazis having a protest and being outnumbered 10-to-1 or the City using your tax dollars to pay these Nazis for not allowing them to have a protest?
Guest on April 18, 2010, at 04:18PM – #18
In answer to commentator numbah ten: I'm a war veteran, a direct descendant of an American Revolutionary of 1776, neither a Dem or a Repug, a proto tea-bagger who knows that Tea Partiers are too over-fed, well off and spoiled, and that they have the intellectual curiosity of lizards. I see them every day at the military installation where I work.
You know: those big gigantic lazy lizards with long tongues that snap out and catch flies every time that their reactionary mood kicks in.
Guest on April 18, 2010, at 05:53PM – #19
But you sound like a liberal or leftist.
Nancy Richardson (@nanorich) on April 18, 2010, at 07:39PM – #20
I am shocked, shocked to discover that there are liberals at liberty in deep blue Los Angeles!
Susana Benavidez on April 19, 2010, at 09:38AM – #21
I am so tired of reading comments about where illegal immigrants should go back to- why don't you stand by your comment with your full name and identity?
Robyn on April 19, 2010, at 01:54PM – #22
Wow - and just down the street is an art exhibit of portraits of Americans who happen to be multi-racial. After seeing it, my spirit was warmed on how far we've come as civilized human beings, and how awesome it is to see the beauty in people who are happy (and always should be in) being themselves.
Guest on April 19, 2010, at 10:12PM – #23
The best part about the LA Times pics is that they had to protect themselves from thrown objects with their placards while a couple of them tried to jump-start a car with a dead battery. Hilarious.
Guest on April 19, 2010, at 11:00PM – #24
I hope to god that female storm trooper thing isn't the next downtown fashion.
Guest on April 23, 2010, at 03:20PM – #25
The people who openly identify as white supremacists are social pariahs and not to be feared.
It's the extreme right-wing crazies speaking in code everywhere in America that are worth worrying about.
Brown people should arm themselves.
Mike Kim on April 25, 2010, at 09:12AM – #26
I have to give these idiots some props. At least they are brave enough to speak their minds in public. It's the ones you don't know about in your neighborhood, workplace, etc. that scare me. But then, we've become such a PC society where anything you say can get you in trouble.
I really feel bad for my white friends who have to tiptoe around everyone just so they aren't classified as a racist. I'm sorry, I truly am.