Los Angeles white supremacist rally turns violent, 2 Nazis severely beaten

[Liberal_in_LA]

A rally of about 40 white supremacists Saturday on the lawn of Los Angeles City Hall drew hundreds of counter-protesters, sparked brawls in which two people were severely beaten and ended with crowds of demonstrators hurling rocks and bottles at police and departing supremacists.

-----------------------

Before members of the white supremacist group had arrived, a bare-chested middle-aged man with Nazi insignias tattooed on his chest and back walked into a crowd of hundreds of counter-protesters gathered near 1st and Spring streets.

Surrounded, the man mockingly bobbed his head to the rhythm of demonstrators chanting "Nazi scum." About a dozen protesters suddenly began pelting the man with punches and kicks. He fell and was struck on the back with the wooden handle of a protester's sign, which snapped in two. Police eventually reached the man and pulled him from the melee, as blood poured from the back of his neck.

Another man was rushed by a mob on Spring Street. He was punched in the face and kicked for about 20 seconds before police made it to the scene. After that beating was broken up, the man began running south on Spring Street, only to be chased down by a protester and slugged in the face. He collapsed and his face slammed to the curb as protesters began pummeling him again.

The bloodied man was then escorted away by police. Both victims were treated and released, police said.

His sign, unclear in its intended meaning, read "Christianity=Paganism=Heathen$" with an arrow pointing at a swastika.

"Gosh, I think he just didn't have a clear message. I don't even think he was a Nazi," said one man, looking at the broken pieces of the sign left behind.

-----------------------

"We are tired of you clogging up our streets," shouted one white supremacist.

Another group member repeatedly denounced illegal immigrants, saying, "If the city supports illegal aliens and criminals, that is treason."

A counter-protester shouted back with a bullhorn.

"You're being protected by black and Latino cops, you cowards!" she said.

-----------------------

One vehicle failed to start. As a group of white supremacists attempted to jump-start the car, others raised swastika-emblazoned shields over their heads to protect themselves from projectiles. After the white supremacists left, police allowed the crowds to dissipate.


http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-white-supremacist18-2010apr18,0,4043821.story

[BlooInBloo]

1. Works for me.

[HowHasItComeToThis]

14. WE DON'T WANT YOUR NAZIS

[BlooInBloo]

15. Suggest you buy a new keyboard with a working capslock key.

[DainBramaged]

64. WHY IS THERE SOMETHING WRONG WITH HIS CAPSLOCK KEY?????

[cliffordu]

80. I DON'T KNOW DO I LOOK LIKE A CAPSLOCK KEY REPARIMAN???

HMMM???

[BlooInBloo]

81. (facepalm)

:rofl:

[cliffordu]

82. Yo, Bloo!!!

Howyabeen.?????

Long time no see!!

[boppers]

90. HOLY CRAP I DON'T HAVE TO USE SHIFT THE WHOLE TIME?

I CAN TYPE EVEN FASTER!


:sarcasm:

[Fla_Democrat]

94. CAPLOKZ

iz krz cntrl 4 kewl.

:evilgrin:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=caps%20lock&defid=598543

[roguevalley]

66. he did what he did, they did, because they think liberals and other

folk won't hand them their ass. SURPRISE!

[Webster Green]

2. Bummer

:nopity:

[old mark]

3. I guess they expect a pleasant Saturday afternoon's hate festival

and got some of their own back instead.

Good. Come back again real soon.

mark

[NI4NI]

4. like that old saying goes........

"You reap what you sow".

[Sebastian Doyle]

5. Can't wait to hear the BecKKK/Limpballs spin on this.

Probably will be about "librul commie socialists dressed in Nazi uniforms" or something.

Followed by a NY Times poll that says how rich and well educated the skinheads are :eyes:

[ima_sinnic]

27. lol!

:spray:

[Speck Tater]

6. Fighting hate with hate. I'm not sure how I feel about that. There has to be a better way. nt

[Webster Green]

11. I know. I hate myself for grinning ear to ear while reading this.

Seriously!...More or less.

[Warpy]

13. yeah, it's real hard not to

but I hate the fact that the crowd was also pelting the poor cops who were only trying to get the scum rally holders out alive. Those cops probably didn't like them any better than the crowd did.

[Name removed]

17. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Warpy]

18. I mostly saw cops on the job as a nurse

and I've met a few bad ones. Most of them are just guys trying to do the hard job of dealing with people at their absolute worst.

There were a few in Boston they had to keep in cages in the basement, I'm sure.

I might have a different viewpoint if I'd lived in LA. I know the LAPD has had a long history of serious problems.

[Name removed]

20. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[fujiyama]

19. I know how I feel

Giddy with excitement. Sorry I grew up playing Wolfenstein. I like watching Nazis die!

[paulsby]

21. i remember the original wolfenstein

on the apple II

2-d

ah yes.

[snooper2]

78. not really...sometimes you just have to beat them down...

That's they only language they understand

[JerseygirlCT]

84. There is a better way. Sinking to the level of those hate-filled

white supremacists only encourages more stupidity and hate.

[RedCappedBandit]

7. So he walked into the crowd, shirtless, thinking he was intimidating

then he got a reality check.




ROFL.

[RagAss]

8. Shhhhhhhh.....zip it.

[krispos42]

9. Hmmmmmm...

[TlalocW]

10. For some reason I can't get up any sympathy for tattoo boy

Trying... trying so hard...

TlalocW

[kestrel91316]

12. Am I expected to weep for the poor little things?

[mistertrickster]

16. As much as I HATE Nazi scum, probably the best approach would be ridicule.

Have some fat guys dress up in tutus wearing Hitler masks and dance around.

[dana_b]

55. that would have made a better point

without blood shed. Let this idiot try to draw first blood and see him hauled away by black and Latino cops instead of being some disgusting martyr for the Nazi cause.

[aquart]

22. Moral: Have a clear message.

I'm kinda charmed by the idea that he was attacked for being wishy-washy.

[cali]

28. really? you find it charming that someone was severely beaten for the ambiguity

of his sign?

That's sick, sweetie.

[eppur_se_muova]

56. What if he was just someone with mental problems?

Could have been deeply confused about the whole point of the protest.

What the hell, let's shed some blood. :sarcasm:

[gulliver]

89. Exactly. Violence is uncool.

It is understandable that people would feel hatred for a guy with Nazi symbols on him, but the odds really are that he is mentally ill. If he wasn't being violent, he should not be treated violently, IMO. I'm against any form of mob violence.

[JDPriestly]

23. I disagree with and condemn NAZIs but I disagree with and condemn violence even more.

Why did the police allow even the vilest NAZI to be beaten in that way?

The police were not doing their job.

Using violence weakens your cause. Violence for any cause is shameful.

Shame on those who were so vicious -- on both sides. (This report does not suggest violence on the NAZI's side. Is the report incomplete?)

[cali]

25. spot on.

[cali]

24. As the article makes clear, it's doubtful that one of the people beaten, was a white supremacist

mobs suck.

[boppers]

26. Who cares about the minority? I do.

A rally of about 40 black supremacists Saturday on the lawn of Los Angeles City Hall drew hundreds of counter-protesters, sparked brawls in which two people were severely beaten and ended with crowds of demonstrators hurling rocks and bottles at police and departing supremacists.

-----------------------

Before members of the black supremacist group had arrived, a bare-chested middle-aged man with Nation of Islam insignias tattooed on his chest and back walked into a crowd of hundreds of counter-protesters gathered near 1st and Spring streets.

Surrounded, the man mockingly bobbed his head to the rhythm of demonstrators chanting "Moslem scum." About a dozen protesters suddenly began pelting the man with punches and kicks. He fell and was struck on the back with the wooden handle of a protester's sign, which snapped in two. Police eventually reached the man and pulled him from the melee, as blood poured from the back of his neck.

Another man was rushed by a mob on Spring Street. He was punched in the face and kicked for about 20 seconds before police made it to the scene. After that beating was broken up, the man began running south on Spring Street, only to be chased down by a protester and slugged in the face. He collapsed and his face slammed to the curb as protesters began pummeling him again.

The bloodied man was then escorted away by police. Both victims were treated and released, police said.

His sign, unclear in its intended meaning, read "Christianity=Paganism=Heathen$" with an arrow pointing at a swastika.

"Gosh, I think he just didn't have a clear message. I don't even think he was a Muslim," said one man, looking at the broken pieces of the sign left behind.

-----------------------

"We are tired of you clogging up our streets," shouted one black supremacist.

Another group member repeatedly denounced illegal immigrants, saying, "If the city supports illegal aliens and criminals, that is treason."

A counter-protester shouted back with a bullhorn.

"You're being protected by white and Jewish cops, you cowards!" she said.

-----------------------

One vehicle failed to start. As a group of black supremacists attempted to jump-start the car, others raised ANC-emblazoned shields over their heads to protect themselves from projectiles. After the black supremacists left, police allowed the crowds to dissipate.

[ima_sinnic]

29. save your energy for those who deserve it

of course, it's your choice to spend 20 minutes typing out nonsense to make your "point," but imo it's 20 minutes of yr life you won't get back that you might have spent assisting someone in need, planting flowers or a tree, mentoring a child, or calling your congress person about the bloated "defense" budget.

[boppers]

30. Shall I Niemoller? I guess I must.

"THEY CAME FIRST for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.

THEN THEY CAME for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.

THEN THEY CAME for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.

THEN THEY CAME for the Catholics,
and I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant.

THEN THEY CAME for me
and by that time no one was left to speak up."

[ima_sinnic]

32. feel free to speak up for the Nazis

nobody's stopping you -- on the Internet at least -- but be brave and wade into the crowd and take your stand.

[boppers]

35. I'm willing to do that.

Defending freedom of speech means defending all political speech, including those kinds that I disagree with.


edit: qualify political speech

[ima_sinnic]

41. was Niemoller calling for standing for those who were doing the "coming for"?

somehow equating the poor widdle oppressed Nazis with the other groups he mentioned doesn't really cut it with me.

[boppers]

46. I do not understand what you are saying.

Perhaps commas might help. Maybe Proper sentences.

[GA_ArmyVet]

70. I despise everything

the Neo-Nazi, White Supremacist stand for. However I tend to agree with you, freedom of speech is paramount here. If freedom of speech only included speech that were popular it would not need to be protected. I do not have much sympathy for injured Nazis or whatever they were, I am more concerned that while expressing their views, they were allowed to be injured....bad precedent when it comes to protesting or voicing unpopular speech. I abhor their speech but for the sake of maintaining my own right to say things that others may not agree with or even disagree with, I can not support infringing on their right to voice their own vile and ignorant beliefs.

[cali]

31. one more time: as the article points out, it's doubtful that one of those beaten

was a white supremacist.

and you are "wasting" time in exactly the same way as the person you're lecturing. Not to mention that you are entirely missing the point.

[ima_sinnic]

33. he was "demonstrating" with Nazis/white supremacists and carrying a sign with a swastika

those who love violence and hate may be dealt with violently and hatefully, no matter how much you wring your hands. that's just the way it is.

[cali]

34. uh, where does it say he was carrying a sign with a

swastika? but even if he were that give NO ONE license to beat him. PERIOD.

That's just the law, little genius.

[ima_sinnic]

38. His sign . . . read "Christianity=Paganism=Heathen$" with an arrow pointing to a swastika"

--nobody said they had "license" to beat him.

please show me where nonviolence has ever been effective in dealing with Nazis. afaic, society has a perfect right to say, "we're sick of your crap, take your antisocial bigotry and shove it." if these creeps are having the tables turned on them--boo hoo.

[cali]

43. non--violence has worked just fine in this country against neo-nazis and

their ilk and it was non-violent activity that bankrupted the KKK. You sure don't think much of MLK.

Sickening and sadly dense. not a surprise of course as it comes from you.

oh, and that sign makes zero sense as a pro-nazi white supremacist message. duh.

[ima_sinnic]

49. Martin Luther King Jr was in Germany in the 1940s? I didn't know that!

you are talking about other times and places.

how can nonviolence be "working fine" when they are still not only among us but apparently growing in numbers and in brazenness?

[boppers]

36. Learn what a swastika is?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swastika

It can be a hate symbol, like a cross, or a peace symbol, like a cross.

[ima_sinnic]

39. yeah, he was carrying a "peace symbol"

unfortunately, the Nazis co-opted the swastika and it has become a symbol of hate.
was this guy's swastika "backward"?

[boppers]

45. Well, that settles it!

If only his swastika was "backward"!

:sarcasm:

[ima_sinnic]

47. from your own article:

"because of its iconic usage in Nazi Germany the symbol has become stigmatized in the Western world, notably even outlawed in Germany."

it is simply an unfortunate fact of life. as much as we wish it weren't so, that is the way it is.

you can't carry a sign with a swastika on it in this country and think people are going to interpret it as anything other than a symbol of hatred and violence.

but don't take my word for it--the next time you're at an antiwar demonstration, carry a sign with a swastika on it as a "peace symbol."

[boppers]

50. That's a great idea!

I think I shall!

I'm always surprised by folks who think that the iconic "peace symbol" is anti-war:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_symbols

...Rather than anti-nuke.

[Number23]

67. Please don't compare the NoI to neo-Nazis. That is a comparison that absolutely will not fly

And besides the fact that this country has never, EVER had a functioning "black supremacist" movement renders your point even more ridiculous.

I get what you're trying to do here. It just doesn't work.

[boppers]

69. For some, "separate but equal" is racist supremacy ideology.

The BPP, and BLA, scared the hell out of a lot of white folks.

But you are correct that they weren't supremacist.

[geek_sabre]

37. Sorry, violence can't be wrong for the other side and right for our side

Have we not spent months condemning if not outright violence but violent rhetoric?

How is this okay? Because you agree with the violent counter-protesters? How is that not hypocritical?

Grow up.

[northernlights]

53. because after decades of relying on nonviolence

some of us have finally figured out that we are speaking 2 different languages.

For some, sadly, they were raised to be bullies and violence is the *only* language they understand. If you don't slug them first, they will rip the flower out of your hand and beat you to a bloody pulp, all while laughing at you, you wimp (in their minds).

So you punch them out first, take them down, so that they "learn" they aren't the biggest, baddest boy on the block. Then you can demonstrate the peaceful way. With luck, some of the greater strength of the peaceful way may rub off on them.

But you've got to have them face down, eating dirt first. It's the only way to get and hold their attention longer than a microsecond.

[JerseygirlCT]

85. Amen. Absolutely right. nt

[old mark]

40. I think it is wonderful, and I hope to see many more such incidents

spreading all over the USA.

mark

[cali]

44. yes, because mobs are just sooo discerning and innocents never get hurt

by the actions of mobs.

fucked up crap on this thread. and mind boggling ugly and stupid.

[old mark]

51. Thank you for sharing your opinions. nt

[inna]

68. You think this is "wonderful",

and you "hope to see many more such incidents spreading all over the USA"?

You want to see Nazi rallies all over the USA, and mobs engaging in random acts of violence against people who appear to be mentally ill?

Another man was rushed by a mob on Spring Street. He was punched in the face and kicked for about 20 seconds before police made it to the scene. After that beating was broken up, the man began running south on Spring Street, only to be chased down by a protester and slugged in the face. He collapsed and his face slammed to the curb as protesters began pummeling him again.

The bloodied man was then escorted away by police. Both victims were treated and released, police said.

His sign, unclear in its intended meaning, read "Christianity=Paganism=Heathen$" with an arrow pointing at a swastika.

"Gosh, I think he just didn't have a clear message. I don't even think he was a Nazi," said one man, looking at the broken pieces of the sign left behind.

This thread is pretty sad.

[hobbit709]

42. Sometimes when you go looking for trouble

You end up finding more trouble than you had intended on when you started looking.
The crowd shouldn't have turned violent but sometimes when you stir up a hornet's nest you get stung severely.

[pampango]

48. White Supremacists Rally Against Illegal Immigrants, Clash with Pro-Immigration Groups

A pro-white and white supremacist group protested against illegal immigration even as pro-immigration groups protested against them and demonstrated with stones and rocks.

Several persons from the pro-white group made speeches on the podium and taunted the counter-protesters with racial, anti-Semitic and misogynistic epithets. They even waved American flags and swastika banners and rallied for about an hour. They were about 50 in number and they belonged to the National Socialist Movement.

Five persons, believed to be pro-immigration were taken into custody on suspicion of hurling rocks and other items, according to the police. The pro-white group wore flack helmets and black military clothes and shouted ‘Sieg Heil’ as each speaker took the stage and taunted the other group. The location (Los Angeles) was chosen because of its huge immigrant population. The immigrants were partly blamed for the locals losing their jobs and the rise of crime was also attributed to them.

‘We will meet you head-on’, one pro-white declared. The group came from Detroit.Members of this group said that they were actually reacting to many street rallies across the US which encouraged legislators to bring in change which added amnesty for some illegal immigrants. The regional director Jeffrey Russell Hall of the National Socialist Movement said that they would henceforth back only those political candidates who were also anti-immigrant and would bring across the message. The bigger crowd of 500 counter-protesters drowned out the voices of the white supremacists and held signs like ‘Nazis get out of LA’ and ‘Racists are Ignorant’.

http://www.timesnewsline.com/news/White-Supremacists-Rally-Against-Illegal-Immigrants--Clash-with-Pro-Immigration-Groups-1271586445/

[Ikonoklast]

52. They have every right to demonstrate.

They should not have been physically assaulted; they should have been shouting to an empty street.

I would like to think that in this country, I could hold a protest or demonstration with like-minded people, no matter how vile and unpopular the position is to the majority, and not be beaten for that expression of my rights under the Constitution.

It's not fun or funny when it happens to those on the left, nor should it be when it happens to anyone else.

Violence should never be the result from the practice of Free Speech in this country, no matter how reprehensible others may find it.

Never.

I know this may may unpopular, or construed as defending the politics of the Nazis, but that is the price we pay as citizens living in this country.

Even Skinhead assholes have the right to their opinions.

They are wrong, but that doesn't change the fact that they still have the right to be wrong.

[ismnotwasm]

54. Dumbasses

What did these racist fucks expect? What's scary is they may have been expecting support from all the tea bagger types that are infesting this country lately. Racism seems to be fashionable in that group.

[xynthee]

57. This is not good.

:thumbsdown:

I hate reading about things like this, but I really, really hate seeing it being cheered on on DU! :(

Incidents like these accomplish nothing positive.

[MadBadger]

58. Nazi Man shouldnt have walked into a crowd of counter protestors.

[proteus_lives]

59. Sad to see so many on DU against free speech.

The nazis can pound sand but they have the same rights as the rest of us if they aren't breaking the law.

[KonaKane]

60. Sounds almost exactly like the utterances of the Weimar police about 1922.

And please do not lambast me with missives on free speech.

[proteus_lives]

61. Sorry but this thread deserves it.

Some DUers should stop being hypocrites.

[Tailormyst]

73. I'm not against free speech, but I also can't feel badly for the man

The demonstrators should not have used violence. Also common sense says that walking into an angry crowd and provoking them further may lead to injury, something I am sure the hateful "victim" was well aware of. I am one of those pagans that I have no doubt he would kill in a second if he thought he could get away with it.

[Cleita]

87. Hey they got their free speech and some consequences because of it.

No one is against that. I hope these turkeys get more of that what is coming to them. I lived in the northwest around these jerks and they have no problems beating up people who are too dark or too Jewish for them. They are no better than any gang bangers around and that's what is going on gang banging. They also engage in a lot of criminal activities to make money, burglary, robbery, drugs etc. If there are some misguided elderly tea party types who fell in with them because the racist message appeals to them, then it's too bad.

[flvegan]

62. Violence solves nothing.

Despise them and their message all you want. Don't get physical unless you're defending yourself or someone else.

[Canuckistanian]

63. While it's very, very tempting

I will NOT cheer on violence merely because it's against someone I disagree with.

[AnArmyVeteran]

65. Poor Nazis... why is everyone always picking on them?

Seriously, the best way to beat a Nazi isn't with your fists or weapons. It's with reason, intelligence and restraint.

[olegramps]

71. That non-violence thing didn't seem to work out very well for the Poles.

[boppers]

91. The Poles eventually won.

They beat both the Nazi's, and the USSR.

It worked, but not quickly.

[Tailormyst]

75. That didn't work so well the first time around.

Many people went to their death while restraining themselves and acting in what seemed like a reasonable manner and expecting the Nazis to reciprocate.

[AnArmyVeteran]

83. I was obviously not talking about the Nazis during WWII

The best way to deal with an occasional Nazi or right winger espousing racism, hatred and violence is to use restraint and reason, because by doing so will paint them as the extremists, while leaving those who condemn them on a higher ground. If we responded to their hatespeech with violence what have we accomplished? We would be playing right into their hands. It would give them even more reason to hate and to enable them to get new recruits. Bush's blind attack against Iraq, killing hundreds of thousands of Iraqis created more hatred and opposition to the United States, and it facilitated the recruitment of countless new terrorists for every Muslim killed by Bush's War.

WWII was completely different. The Polish suffered a sneak attack and where quickly overran by a superior military force. A Nazi regime should never be coddled and all of their threats should be immediately addressed in every means possible. But the handful of Nazis at a demonstration is not the same as an entire Nazi army engaged in a world war. Nor is it the same as the extermination of the Jewish people.

If we act like those who live in a world of hate, are we any better than they are? You don't beat anyone by becoming one of them.

[Tailormyst]

72. I don't feel badly for him- he got what he was looking for.

[cali]

74. How about the guy who may well not have been a white supremacist and got beaten?

In any case, that's hardly the point. and the point is obvious it shouldn't need to be explained.

[Tailormyst]

76. The crowd should not have gotten violent

And I believe those who did the violence should be arrested. However, I have to be honest, when you spout hate and actively try to provoke a crowd, I have no pity.

I also would feel no pity if someone beat the crap out of the Phelps family.

[chemenger]

77. I hate Kalifornia Nazis!

n/t

[TwilightGardener]

79. Heh.

[Cleita]

86. They were asking for it.

You don't go into the middle of a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood telling them they are no good because they aren't white. These neo-Nazi militia types are full of swagger but in their little enclaves and compounds up in the lily white northwest, people ignore them so they think they are hot stuff. I hope they learned a lesson.

[Old Troop]

88. These guys got what they deserved

NAZIs, by definition, don't participate in political discourse, they attempt to intimidate their opponents. They probably thought their bad-ass tattoos and aggressive attitudes would scare the citizens. Oops, wrong decision. Too many of our fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers died to put that scourge in the ground. Many of us older DUers talked with veterans during our childhoods who had helped liberate the camps -- they were our friend's fathers who had seen the most horrific things that men can do. For normal people, the truth is quite clear. Given an inch, NAZIs will grab all the power they can. I don't like the term "Neo-NAZIs". It seems cleansed of the inestimable crimes committed by that scum.

[LWolf]

92. I can't condone fighting hate with hate. nt

[Iggo]

93. Violence is not cool. I wish it han't happened.

That said, it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.