The Militant - December 26, 2005 -- Protesters outmobilize rightists in Toledo; police arrest 30

Vol. 69/No. 50 December 26, 2005

Protesters outmobilize rightists in Toledo; police arrest 30

BY ILONA GERSH
TOLEDO, Ohio—Nearly 200 people protested here December 10 against a rally by 60 right-wingers sponsored by the National Socialist Movement (NSM), which sometimes calls itself the American Nazi Party. This is a fascist outfit based in Roanoke, Virginia, and has a national office in Minneapolis. Bill White, a spokesman of the group, told the Toledo Blade that members of the Ku Klux Klan, Retaliator Skinhead Nation, and the World Church of the Creator took part in the white-supremacist action.

This was the second NSM rally here. On October 15, the group tried to march through a largely Black residential area on the north side of town. That action provoked protests of several hundred residents, many of them Black.

A sign at the one-hour,” “Down with racism!” and “Hey, hey; Ho, ho! Nazis and the Klan have got to go!” chanted the counterprotesters.

Hundreds of cops in riot gear were mobilized in the area. Police forced protesters on both sides to walk though metal detectors and photographed everyone who did so. By the end, cops arrested 30 people—most of whom took part in the antiracist action—and charged them with misdemeanors, including disorderly conduct.

Alan Epstein contributed to this article.

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