Neo-Nazis speak into sea of opponents
500 foes, 200 troopers, 13 National Socialist Movement followers at rally
BY VENICE BUHAIN AND ADAM WILSON
THE OLYMPIAN
04 July 06
http://159.54.227.3/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060704/NEWS/607040314

About 500 protesters drowned out 13 neo-Nazis Monday at the Capitol. The
two groups were separated from each other by helmeted,
crowd-control-equipped troopers. Throughout the day, about 200 troopers
were on duty, the largest force of Washington State Troopers gathered
there since the 1970s.

About 80 troopers at a time formed a line that kept counter-protesters -
some dressed as clowns, others beating drums and carrying signs - away
from members of the National Socialist Movement who rallied on the
Capitol steps behind a temporary chain-link fence.

"Overall, I couldn't be happier," said State Patrol Chief John Batiste.
"Our priority was that this event was safe."

There were no arrests or injuries except for one person affected by the
heat, he said.

"The State Patrol did a great job," said Bryn Houghton of Olympia, who
as a counter-­protest dressed as a clown with an Adolf Hitler-style
mustache. "I thought (the National Socialist Movement) did a great job
of humiliating themselves. You couldn't hear them and when you could it
was illogical, as well as being bigoted."

Others in the crowd, including Adrienne Weller, who came to the
counter-protest from Seattle, were offended by the heavy police
presence. Weller called the State Patrol an "honor guard" for the
neo-Nazis and said similar protection is not offered at war protests.
Batiste said Patrol based its plans on neo-Nazi rallies in other parts
of the country, some of which have turned violent.

"Nazis have a right to protection just as well as those who oppose their
actions and views. It's our job to look past that situation and provide
protection for everyone," he said.

The rally and counter demonstration, which took place between 2 and 4
p.m., were the culmination of months of planning by both sides.

Several of the 13 neo-Nazis gathered around a swastika-adorned podium
and two Nazi flags. They taunted the crowd, advocated for the
segregation of races, and accused Jews of causing social problems.

"There's a little cockroach that has crawled into every nation and they
have been kicked out everywhere. Who am I talking about? The Jew. The
Jew hates you all," said Shawn Stewart, a neo-Nazi from Montana.

But the neo-Nazi message was difficult to hear amid the din of people
who banged pots, sang, chanted, and occasionally shouted curses at the
neo-Nazis.

"My wife is Mexican," said Vulka Staab of Federal Way, who came to the
protest with his 7-year-old daughter, Bree. "Me, myself, I'm half
Japanese, so I guess you could say my family has a lot to lose."

Roxanne McPherson, of Olympia, said she came to rally against the
National Socialist Movement "because it's right to be patriotic and to
be against hatred."

"I wish there were even more people," she said.

Batiste said the event was probably the largest police action at the
Capitol since the 1970s, when groups such as the Black Panthers rallied
there.

He said many of the troopers at the rally and counter protest were
already on duty and were not called in especially for the event.
However, a final total of the cost of providing security was not
available, he said.

And the ultimate effect of the rally is in dispute.

"I'm sure that these guys are going to collapse after this," said Robert
Jacobs, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, which has been
tracking the neo-Nazi group. "After a year and a half of planning,
saying this was going to be a state and national rally, they got 10 or
12 people."

Justin Boyer, who has led previous National Socialist Movement
gatherings in Olympia, promised the crowd his group will return.

"We're going to come here tomorrow, and the day after that and the day
after that, and you can't do (anything)," he said.

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