Neo-Nazi march stirs up Columbia

[Rasp]

Police say crowd ”�’will dictate our response’

Police say crowd ”�’will dictate our response’

Columbia police say it will be easy to tell whether the neo-Nazi group scheduled to march this weekend gets what it wants.

Members of the National Socialist Movement want to incite spectators, causing police to arrest dozens of Columbia residents and make it appear the police are on the same side as the neo-Nazis, police Capt. Tom Dresner said.

That was the case in Toledo, Ohio, in October 2005, where a four-hour riot led to 120 arrests, Capt. Brad Nelson said during a community meeting yesterday at police headquarters. Police urged residents to avoid the demonstration this weekend.

Police Chief Randy Boehm was not at the meeting because he is out of town, Dresner said.

The Minneapolis-based, neo-Nazi group was granted a permit to march downtown between noon and 5 p.m. Saturday.

Police have spent the past week preparing the required security and brushing up on protocol for controversial marches.

"No city ever wants to deal with this element of our society," Dresner said, "but unfortunately, we got picked."

Dresner, assigned by Boehm as acting chief, said officers will make sure the group sticks to its approved parade route.

Nelson, assigned by Boehm as incident commander, said police would not block off those streets. Marchers have to be continuously moving, stay to the right of the road or on the sidewalk and cannot impede traffic.

"That route you could probably walk in 20 minutes," Nelson said. "Why they applied for a five-hour permit, I don’t know."

Nelson said most of the officers assigned to the event would be working overtime. Tactical teams with the Boone County Sheriff’s Department, Columbia Police Department, Missouri State Highway Patrol and Jefferson City Police Department will be standing by as well.

"The crowd, if any, will dictate our response," Nelson said.

University of Missouri-Columbia Police Chief Jack Watring said his department would have a presence downtown but also has to work around Mizzou Arena because of a scheduled state basketball tournament.

:Swastika2:

 

[Rasp]

Neo-Nazi march stirs up Columbia

Neo-Nazi march stirs up Columbia

Police officers use pepper spray to disperse a crowd of protestors who were getting physical with members of the Nationalist Social Movement who were marching on Watson Street near the Hitt Street parking garage today.

Seven people were arrested and police used pepper spray to separate antagonistic groups, but the scheduled march of a group of neo-Nazis took place today without significant injury or damage to downtown Columbia.

About two dozen neo-Nazis participated in a police-escorted march along the designated parade route near the University of Missouri-Columbia campus.

Their stated goal was to protest what they contend are university links to Marxism. About half of the marchers wore brown-shirted uniforms, and several carried flags, including the Missouri state flag and a Nazi banner, as they walked through a sometimes-shouting crowd of spectators.

Columbia police Capt. Zim Schwartze said spotters for law enforcement estimated the crowd at 300 to 400 along the entire parade route, with many of them clustered near Ninth and Elm streets.

The group had been granted a permit to march between noon and 5 p.m., but they used only a fraction of that time to state their case, carrying signs with messages such as "White man stand up" and shouting over a bullhorn slogans such as "sieg heil" and "white power."

No one was seriously injured during the demonstration.

Near Ninth and Elm, spectator Robert Cone of Columbia said he went to see them out of curiosity.

"I’ve never seen a neo-Nazi group before. I’m 50 years old, I thought what the heck, ‘Let’s go down and check them out,’ " he said.

He said part of his interest was the possibility he would see some "action," such as people getting arrested.

"There was more hype about it than actually happened," he said after the marchers passed him on the first of two go-rounds. "I saw some people yelling and a few things thrown, other than that, I’m ready to go home."

Others felt compelled to counteract the marchers’ message. MU political science and journalism major Allison Mang held her fingers in a peace sign as the marchers passed.

"I’m here to defend humanity," she said. "I think we’re all here to just protest this abhorrent message."

Crowd-control efforts included officers mounted on horseback and a helicopter circling overhead while the group was in town. The Columbia Police Department was assisted by the Boone County and Cole County sheriff’s departments, the Missouri State Highway Patrol and MU police.

Police used pepper spray to separate spectators and marchers pushing toward one another at one point in the march, and several bystanders and a news photographer were caught in the spray.

Police arrested six men and one woman on suspicion of offenses that included peace disturbance by fighting, trespassing and assault of a police officer.

The march group, using vehicles that bore out-of-state plates including Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois, was on its way out of Columbia about an hour after the 1 p.m. march. Police tracked their caravan as they headed south on Highway 63.

Several hundred teens, adults and children gathered in Douglass Park for a picnic with music, dancing and games in response to the neo-Nazi march downtown.

KLJU radio 88.9 DJ Annette Driver provided hip-hop tunes for dancers as children with balloons sporting "Not in Our Town" T-shirts dashed around a dunk-tank and booths set up by the Islamic Center of Central Missouri, Mid-Missouri Peaceworks, the Center Project and Centro Latrino.

Francis Thompson stood in the long line of people waiting for plates of chicken, hot dogs, chips and snacks that snaked around a park shelter.

"You don’t have to stoop to their level," she said of the National Socialist Movement marchers. "You can bring your kids to a fun place where we can all come together. There’s a good turnout, both blacks and whites. It’s good that we can all come together in this park on a beautiful day."

 

[3 Ks]

Video @ link

Ha ha ha! Chicken & hip hop!

Foreground R.: Abe Goldstien gets sprayed like the cockroach that he is!

 

[Rasp]

Video @ link

Ha ha ha! Chicken & hip hop!

Foreground R.: Abe Goldstien gets sprayed like the cockroach that he is!

Great caption 3Ks!

Police content with march’s outcome

Police content with march’s outcome
Police say the neo-Nazi march only led to minimal damage

Columbia police are overall pleased with the way the National Socialist Movement march turned out Saturday in downtown Columbia.

“I don’t know how you define success but with the low number of arrests, one report of vandalism and no injuries, we feel it went well,” police Captain Zim Schwartze said.

After a few tense moments, the neo-Nazi group decided to end the march themselves, Schwartze said. Had the march gone longer than its 45 minutes, the potential for problems could have increased.

“The longer they were out there, we would have had more difficulty,” police Captain Tom Dresner said. “Things were getting hostile, fists were flying on both sides. It was highly emotionally charged.”

Although Columbia police advised residents to ignore the march, a crowd previously estimated to be around 400 people showed up to witness the event. That estimation is low, Dresner said.

“The number was definitely in the thousands.”

Assisting the Columbia police with the event were five officers from the MU Police Department, 24 officers from the Boone County Sheriff’s Department, the Jefferson City Police Department and the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Schwartze said.

“Any time you have a large event that could turn negative, other agencies band together and help each other out,” Schwartze said. “We are extremely grateful.”

One of the main goals during the march was to maintain a distance between the marchers and the crowd, Dresner said. Officers on motorcycles and horseback helped with this goal.

“The mounted unit was surprisingly valuable when it came to maneuverability,” Dresner said. “They were able to sweep crowds from the marchers without harming anyone just by doing sidestepping.”

Pepper spray was also used on more than one occasion to gain more distance when things began to turn violent, Dresner said. The crowd was warned before anything was sprayed.

Sixty riot officers and a Missouri State Highway Patrol helicopter were other resources used during the event, Dresner said.

The Columbia Police Department plans to debrief the event in the future, Schwartze said.