On April 17, nearly 2,000 counter-demonstrators overwhelmed a few dozen racists protected by a full mobilization of the City of Los Angeles.
The Nazi National Socialist Movement’s “Reclaim the Southwest” rally was intended to incite harassment and hate crimes against immigrants and
promote the expulsion of all non-whites from the United States. The city of Los Angeles worked hand-in-hand with the Nazis to help flaunt their message of hatred in the midst of one of the most diverse cities in the country.
The NSM has been holding rallies throughout California and throughout the country to capitalize on the growing hardship for workers suffering through the economic crisis. While material conditions for workers deteriorate, there is an inevitable heightening of consciousness and an increased potential for being spurred into action. As the contradictions of capitalism push workers into political motion, the NSM and other right-wing organizations seek to point that motion in a reactionary direction. They put forth an agenda of racism, immigrant-bashing, anti-union propaganda and capitulation to the most right-wing sectors of the ruling class.
The Southern Poverty Law Center revealed that in 2009 far-right organizations and armed militias grew a shocking 244 percent after 10 years of dormancy. This shines a spotlight on the traction the ultra-right is getting during the economic crisis and the immediacy of the task to push back against it.
Progressives and revolutionaries must answer reactionary appeals to our class with a progressive appeal that argues for solidarity among all people and class unity against our common oppressors.
When the NSM audaciously applied for a permit to rally at City Hall in Los Angeles, there was a massive outcry demanding that the city deny the permit. Even though the NSM is a known terrorist organization that advocates and commits violent acts against immigrants, people of color, Jews and LGBT people—and that hate crimes increase when these groups hold rallies in an area—the city vehemently defended the Nazis’ “right” to hold their rally.
Falling back on the “free speech” argument holds no weight when that speech is designed to incite racism and violence, and is effective at it. While the city proudly stands up to defend the Nazis’ “free speech,” countless people and their families will have to defend themselves against the actual violence and harassment their speech produces.
The city did not merely support the racists right to rally. The Los Angeles Police Department held meetings with NSM leaders to assist them as much as possible, and, in many cases, went out of their way to add to the success and visibility of the Nazi rally.
While the city gave the Nazis a platform to recruit and inspire white-supremacist activity, the people of Los Angeles mobilized to stand up against it.
Mobilizing to stop racist hate
The Party for Socialism and Liberation and the ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) passed out thousands of flyers and made hundreds of phone calls to bring people out to the counter-demonstration. In the weeks leading up to the Nazi rally, the PSL and ANSWER both held a series of activist meetings and public classes on fascism and how to fight it, and the historical struggle against the Ku Klux Klan in the United States.
Hours before the Nazis arrived, counter-demonstrators picketed in front of City Hall to confront the fascists. The diversity at the counter-demonstration was a true display of unity and embodied the opposite of what the Nazis were attempting to promote.
When the Nazis arrived—numbering around 40, wearing military equipment and carrying their own riot shields—it became clear that the event could only be held because of a massive mobilization of the city and the LAPD.
The entire City Hall property was militarized, as many hundreds of riot police brandishing tear-gas launchers and batons surrounded the park. The city donated the use of a dozen city buses to ship in the swarm of police. Between the cost of paying hundreds of officers overtime and utilizing city buses and workers, the city must have paid tens of thousands of dollars. The cost of hosting and defending the Nazis’ racist rally would go a long way in a city plagued by layoffs, furlough days, cuts to social services and a surge of pink slips for teachers.
To guarantee that no racists would be left out of the rally, a special parking area was set up for the Nazis at City Hall. Those wearing swastikas had their own VIP entrance to the rally, with a private parking lot safely behind police lines.
After gathering in their protected parking lot, the Nazis marched to the rally site in front of City Hall. The counter-demonstrators, who were chanting “Racists go home!” and “Immigrants ‘Yes,’ Racists ‘No,’ Nazi scum has got to go!” were kept a block away from the Nazis as they marched to City Hall. The press, however, were given a front row seat by the LAPD, so the entrance of 40 racists could be all over the news without the disruption of the nearly 2,000 anti-racists. At the rally site as well, the counter-demonstration was kept 50 yards from the Nazis, while the LAPD set up a press box for the media.
Even with the accommodations provided by the LAPD, the Nazi rally was drowned out by the counter-demonstration, and the Nazis complained that there were several NSM members who were trying to get to the rally but were too scared to pass through the crowd.
One white supremacist entered the counter-demonstration and removed his shirt, revealing Nazi tattoos, and began shouting racial slurs. As one would expect, the crowd confronted the racist, who was quickly saved by multiple undercover cops in the crowd, who immediately revealed their badges, escorted the Nazi behind police lines.
When the Nazis were done, they were escorted back to their cars. After the frustration of being kept so far from the racists, hundreds of counter-demonstrators spontaneously marched behind the area where the Nazis parked, flanking the police line and massing at the fence that was protecting the Nazis. Not being able to leave Los Angeles without a fight, the Nazis were bombarded with objects being lobbed from the crowd as they tried to escape in their cars. When one of the Nazi’s cars broke down, they were forced to huddle behind their riot shields to escape the barrage as they tried to jump-start their vehicle.
In another display of the LAPD’s collusion with the fascists, the police took video and photos of the counter-demonstrators throwing objects and hunted them down and arrested them once the Nazis left. They trolled the dispersing crowd, pointing out demonstrators suspected of throwing objects and detaining them. On the other hand, the Nazis were allowed to throw rocks and other objects at the counter-demonstrators from behind the police line, ducking behind the police for protection. The Nazis were even shown on the evening news throwing objects at the counter-demonstration, but not a single one was arrested.
The cops rush anti-Nazi protesters to protect the fascists. |
The story of the day for the corporate media was the raucous counter-demonstration, devoid of any criticism of the Nazis. The real story, however, was that without the full mobilization of the LAPD and the city the fascists’ demonstration simply would not have happened. The favorite chants of the day were “The cops and the Klan go hand-in-hand,” and “Cops, go home, we’ll handle this alone!”
‘Continue the fight!’
The demonstration showed that the people of Los Angeles will not accept racism and immigrant-bashing. But the state encourages racism and immigrant-bashing—the capitalist system encourages racism and immigrant-bashing. Racism and bigotry are important tools for the capitalists to maintain their system, which is based on inequality and super-exploitation.
As much as the LAPD and the Nazis strived for a successful rally, the victory belonged to the people who stood up against it. People stood shoulder-to-shoulder against racism, against sexism, against homophobia, against scapegoating immigrants.
The counter-demonstration was militant. While the press harped on the throwing of objects, the physical confrontations and the battles with the police, the people showed the city of Los Angeles and the LAPD that they cannot host the Nazis without a fight—and the Nazis know they cannot come to this city unless they are wearing helmets and carrying shields and are protected by a wall of police.
The Nazi demonstration was a scar on the already mangled face of the LAPD and an embarrassment to the city. The counter-demonstration posed a display of unity and resistance to the Nazis and was a huge success.
The anti-racist forces came out of the demonstration victorious, but it was just one round in a fight that is intensifying in the United States. The PSL has already been battling racist organizations and politicians in Southern California and throughout the country. The ultra-reactionary, racist bill that passed in Arizona is a clear sign that there are many more battles to come. The PSL will continue the fight.
