July 18, 2004
Did this really happen?
Yesterday I saw something I had only seen on TV - a real neo-Nazi rally. Being from LA, I've never seen anything like this. I grabbed my camera and took some pics. The Lincoln Journal Star's account is here, but here's my report.
No one knew exactly how many National Socialist Movement (NSM) members would show, but it wasn't many - this picture shows about half of them. As you can see, they held their rally on the steps of the capital. The area in front of the capital was blocked off to keep distance from them and the rest of the community. At the bottom of the photo, you can see a man talking through a speaker. I think at this point he was introducing the two women speakers. The sound wasn't that good, so I had to really listen to catch what they were saying.
The community didn't let this go unnoticed...
Many made sure their voices were heard also. Here are some signs from those protesting the Nazis. My favorite is the "follow your leader" poster - which suggests Nazi's follow their leader to suicide.
Protesters also tried to make as much noise as possible to distrupt the speakers. There were a few guys doing similiar things.
The police were also out in force. Many in riot gear, and some on the rooftops. They did an excellent job of keeping things in order, mostly by standing between shouting parties.
What's a protest without the ACLU keeping an eye on things? I counted a handful of "observers" around. I don't know if they were involved in any real situations, but at least they got some sun.
Another protester. This guy dressed up as a clown to mock rally participants. He's giving the "heil hitler" salute. He was later lead away by police, I think for taking off his shirt and attempting to burn it, but I can't be certain.
Obviously many Nebraskans don't support neo-Nazis.
Although there was no violence, there were a few heated shouting matches. The man in the blue shirt and shorts in the center is part of the NSM and was arguing with the man on the far left. (The same Nazi supporter was later arrested - details are farther down). All this takes place under the watchful eye of the ACLU. Notice the cops standing in between the men.
There were two areas for people to voice their opinion. One was designated for supporters of the pro-National Socialist Movement, the other for the "anti" side. But some anti-Nazi people went over to the "pro" side to be closer to the NSM folks. I think police hoped to avoid close shouting matches like this, but in the end they just ended up standing in between groups.
More "anti" people get involved, including the happy guy in the white shirt. The press was there too.
A similiar scene right in front of me - the NSM guy on the right and a women protester on the left. She yelled all sorts of things I cannot repeat to the NSM guy and the crowd loved it.
Here's a closer look at the protesters...
and the NSM member. Behind him you can a news camerman (on the left) and a reporter (on the right).
After a few minutes the police moved in with force and told everyone to back up. That ended the shouting.
Here's the blue shirted man getting arrested for an outstanding warrant. I don't know how the cops identified him, but they caught him right in front of me. I guess he forgot that if you have a warrant for your arrest, you should try to avoid places were there is a heavy police presence!
These two NSM guys mingled with the general crowd until they started arguing with other people. Soon the crowd turned on them and they were forced to leave.
Here's the clown protester being forced to leave.
