Feeble Nazi rally in DC.

Matthew X profrv at nex.net.au
Fri May 14 10:12:56 PDT 1999


http://www.ainfos.ca/ainfos12745.html

A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E http://www.ainfos.ca/ 
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________________________________________________ I went to my first 
anti-nazi demo today. The occasion was the much ballyhooed National 
Alliance rally against Israel. The weather was probably the worst it has 
been all summer; hot and really humid. The nazis rallied on the front lawn 
of the Capitol and the good thing was that the anti-fascists outnumbered 
the fascists. There were tons of cops on hand to protect the fascists, 
which shows how pathetic these New Age fascists really are. I talked with a 
variety of Anti-Racist Action folks, local activists, and people who have 
been to many of these recent National Alliance rallies. They were all 
pleased with the turnout for our side, which I would estimate at around 
300. If you add in the 30 ARA and anarchist activists arrested in Baltimore 
this morning, you could say that the turnout was pretty good for such a 
miserable day. The veteran organizers said that this was the best turnout 
of anti-fascists in several years. The National Alliance had predicted a 
turnout in the thousands, but when I counted them at Union Station and 
again on the Capitol lawn, I could only count slightly more than 250 of 
them. Most of these idiots were men, with half of them being skinheads and 
the rest being older, weird looking guys. I don't know, I didn't find these 
guys to be that scary, since they wer taunting the crowd from behind lines 
of riot cops. The weekend of anti-fascist events kicked off last night, 
when several anti-fascists 
<http://dc.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=27833&group=webcast"> walked 
around a neighborhood in Edgewater, Maryland, where they passed out flyers 
to the neighbors of Steve Smith, owner of SS Regalia records, which is a 
nazi music label. Our guys even ran into Smith when he was jogging, which 
prompted him to run for the nearest tree. It seems like this 
action--raising awareness about where nazis live--is probably the most 
promising counter-fascist organizing tool. Early this morning, a group of 
ARA activists jumped a chartered National Alliance bus at a travel plaza 
outside of Baltimore, MD. This pre-emptive attack prompted the nazis to 
spill out of their bus and start fighting. The cops eventually showed up 
and around 30 anti-fascists were arrested. There was quite a turnout of 
anti-fascists in front of Union Station, where the police were helping the 
NA stage from. Folks were drumming and holding up banners. There was a 
pretty big ARA turnout from the East Coast and Midwest. Eventually the 
National Alliance marched down the parking ramp with a huge police escort. 
At this point I was across the street scouting, which put me in an 
interesting spot to watch what transpired ast the nazis marched in front of 
the counter-demo. There were lots of words exchanged between both sides.The 
anti-facists starting throwing projectiles. I had to move away from the 
street because I was in the line of fire. At one point I saw a cop drop a 
cobblestone behind his back that had been thrown by our side. I was kind fo 
surprised that more shit wasn't thrown, but the police presence was pretty 
large. The nazis shouted some really lame stuff at the anti-fascists, 
including lame lines like "Go home and smoke your dope" and "Take off your 
masks." The nazis marched up Deleware Avenue to the Capitol grounds with a 
huge police escort. The anti-fascists marched through the park and end up 
between the reflecting pool and the National Alliance rally. Not much 
transpired for an hour, other than some skinheads coming down the hill to 
incite the anti-fascists. After about an hour, the police marched the 
National Alliance back to Union Station where they were run through a 
guantlet of anti-fascists. The police were out in force today, both the 
Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Capitol Police. They had two 
choppers in the air and their equestrian unit. I spent most of my time 
trailing the undercover guys (we got pictures of many of these guys). I 
discovered undercover guys from the Fairfax County (VA) and Montgomery 
County (MD) police departments. The police were pretty restrained the 
entire day, relying on their numbers to intimidate both sides. Still, I 
found quite a few weaknesses in their scenario and deployment. It was good 
to see so many folks turn out for the counter-protest. I was pretty 
disappointed with the poor turnout by the National Alliance. If I had paid 
anything for this sorry spectacle, i'd be asking for my money back. The 
National Alliance will be having a show tonight at the Armory in Towson, 
Maryland. I've been told that quite a few anti-racists will be there to 
kick them out of Baltimore. Donate to Infoshop.org: 
http://www.infoshop.org/feed_infoshop.html 
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