Protesters, neo-Nazis meet again State Patrol breaks up rally early on steps of Capitol April 03, 2006 By Venice Buhain The Olympian OLYMPIA — In their second rally in the capital city this year, members of a fledgling Northwest neo-Nazi group again were vastly outnumbered by counter-protesters Sunday. Between 100 and 150 anti-Nazi activists confronted about 10 members of the National Socialist Movement on the steps of the Capitol around 1 p.m. But Justin Boyer, leader of the Northwest chapter that plans a larger rally at the Capitol in July, said he was pleased with the turnout — particularly the Seattle television station that taped the rally at the Capitol and a protest at Heritage Park. “We draw off from the media attention,” Boyer said. “There was a TV station — that’s a better victory than anything.” No arrests No one was arrested or injured, and no physical contact was reported Sunday, according to Washington State Patrol Sgt. John Sager, but troopers in riot gear dissolved the rally after about a half-hour because the tone of the verbal confrontations became violent. As the protesters chanted “Not in our town, not in any town,” troopers escorted the neo-Nazis off the Capitol Campus and asked them to leave. Peter Bohmer of Olympia Movement for Justice & Peace said the counter-protesters were organized and ready with their own message against hatred. “We want to challenge their message,” he said. The National Socialist Movement informed police of its plans to rally in Sylvester Park and then of a move to Heritage Park, but the group instead went to the steps of the Capitol without informing police, Sager said. Many of the protesters arrived at the Capitol from a rally organized by Unity in the Community at nearby Heritage Park, which featured speeches by South Sound activists Anna Schlecht, Cindy Corrie and others. That rally, which started around noon, was organized in response to the Northwest National Socialist Movement’s plan to demonstrate in Olympia. Other protesters patrolled Olympia and relayed the neo-Nazi group’s whereabouts via cell phones. Some at the Heritage Park event opted not to join the protesters confronting the National Socialist Movement on the steps of the Capitol. ‘Out of hand’ After the groups at the Capitol had faced off for 30 minutes, troopers from the Civil Disturbance Action Team arrived and escorted the neo-Nazis away, Sager said. “It started to get out of hand,” Sager said. “Both groups were starting to get violent. There was no physical contact, but a lot of verbal confrontations.” Sager said the troopers in the civil disturbance team were deployed after the two groups would not move away from one another. “The first priority is to protect life. We protect everybody, and we don’t take sides,” he said. Marcus Fabregas of Lacey said it made him angry that neo-Nazis keep coming to Olympia. He said he learned about the victims of Nazi atrocities as he grew up on a U.S. military base in Germany. “That’s not right,” he said. “So I came to pay my respects and have (the neo-Nazis) get the hell home.” Boyer said Sunday the group was demonstrating in part in memory of Rachel Corrie, the Olympia activist who died after a bulldozer operated by the Israeli military ran over her as she tried to block it from knocking down a Palestinian doctor’s home in Gaza. The driver of the bulldozer was absolved of wrongdoing. The Northwest National Socialist Movement’s Web site states that Corrie “took a stand against Zionist terror, and we admire her activism.” “She was a woman who was killed by a Jewish man who was not found guilty — or even investigated — after he ran over her twice,” Boyer said Sunday. “The Jewish guy said he didn’t see her, but if a lady with a bullhorn is right in front of you, you don’t run over her.” But Corrie’s mother, Cindy Corrie, told the crowd at Heritage Park that her daughter would have been emphatically against this neo-Nazi group’s causes. Cindy Corrie said her relatives include Jewish, Hindu and Sikh members, and her family has hosted foreign exchange students from Brazil. After reading from Rachel Corrie’s letters from Gaza, Cindy Corrie said her daughter had been aware and was concerned about “Nazis who want to use Israel’s policies to justify their hate.” “The message of the NSM is the opposite of all Rachel stood for,” she said. Three months ago, the Northwest National Socialist Movement rallied in a parking lot in Olympia and also was greeted by a quickly organized group of counter-protesters. The neo-Nazi group plans to return to the Capitol steps for a rally July 3, Boyer said. It is inviting other groups with similar ideologies, he said. No confirmation Its Web site also had listed an April 20 rally in Olympia on the date of Adolf Hitler’s birthday, but Boyer would not confirm that date and the date had been removed from the front page. Leaders on both sides said they hoped to avoid violence. But Boyer, who said the group’s First Amendment Rights were violated when the rally was broken up Sunday, said he questioned whether the State Patrol will be adequate protection for its July 3 rally. “If today got out of control, how are they going to control July 3, or is my group going to have to control (the crowd)?” he asked. Bohmer of Olympia Movement for Justice & Peace said local activists hope to organize a peaceful cultural festival to counter the rally on that day. “If the Nazis do come, it will be cultural resistance to them,” he said. http://www.theolympian.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060403/NEWS01/60403006/1006 Venice Buhain writes for The Olympian. She can be reached at 360-754-5445 or vbuhain@theolympian.com.