Toledo erupts into Insurrection in response to Nazi's trying to march through their neighborhood.
Toledo, Ohio Saturday 10-15.
Toledo, Ohio October 15th.
A plan by Neo-Nazis to march through a black neighborhood in northen Toledo incited a riot. When police tried to escort the nazis out in the neighborhood they were pelted by rocks and a crowd of up to 600 residents gathered in protest. Tear gas was used to push back people but the police were unable to control the crowd as they were hit by rocks when they would try to advance. Eventually a small bar is burnt down and several fire trucks pelted by rocks and a state of emergency is declared for the city and an 8pm curfew set. The police plan to have a strong presence in this community for the next few days. They had arrested 114 people by Sunday.
Toledo was the site of a rally by neo-nazi's in a predominantly black neighborhood. The ISO (international socialist organziaton), ARA (anti-racist action) and various members of the community came to counter-demonstrate against the Nazi's which were comprised of members from the NSM (national socialist movement) and National Alliance. When the protesters arrived there were only about 8 nazis including Bill White spokesperson of the NSM.
There was a strong police presence in front of the Nazi's starting out with members of SWAT carrying automatic rifles. A line of bicycle police was set-up between the nazis and the people and everyone protesting the nazis was pushed across the street by police. The nazis started to rally as a few cars full of them showed up. They were giving zieg-heils and carrying signs about white guilt. Eventually members of the community started pelting them with trash. The cops responded by walking police horses into the crowd of demonstraters pushing them back and then eventually they came to arrest someone wearing a cincinatti reds hat. They find him and the crowd gets angry as they arrested him for no apparent reason. He was a african american youth and shortly there after word goes out the nazi's are about to march.
Seconds later the crowd is running around the side of the building to where they believe the nazi's will be. They pick up rocks in front of a building, eventually a police squad car rolls down to secure the block and it is met by a barrage of rocks, breaking its windows and causing it to retreat. Then members of the community see another police car arrive and they again cause it to go away after it gets pelted with rocks, breaking the back window.
People are marching in the streets looking for the nazis. There is some communication and a few more confrontations with police, but no sign of the nazis. The crowd is ready to confront the nazis and their numbers swell as everyone comes out. This is a predominantly african american crowd, but there are a fair number of latinos and whites. In general everyone is amped up and ready for a fight saying things like they think that they can come into our neighborhood. This isn't the 50s and we aren't going to go back.
Eventually more confrontations with the police ensue as they bust out the tear gas after a few more police vehicles get smashed by rocks. They shoot tear gas and rubber & foam bullets at the crowd. Everyone is happy to be confronting the police. People are saying things like "This is how it should be everyday." Two bike police try to arrest a kid who jumps over a fence and then a rock to their spoke causes them to retreat. Eventually more tear gas is shot into the crowd and everyone is in the street amped and they advance on the police line throwing rocks and cause them to retreat. The police are mostly antagonizing the situation, a corporate news reporter is almost hit by a rock and then many members of the crowd, say "Stop, don't throw rocks at people", and the rock throwing stops.
There is a lot of flashing of gang signs and a good number of people are repping bloods. The feeling is one of ecstatic empowerment rather than rage. There is a strong feeling of solidarity among the people united against the police. Race isn't really a factor as white people and latinos are also engaged in the civil disobedience against the police.
Things get crazier and eventually a store is looted for some liquor and people go and chill at Ruth's place a local establishment. A small local bar that served as a shrine to politicians gets burnt and a state of emergency is declared by the mayor and a curfew set at 8pm. There were dozens of arrest at the end of the day, but the police didn't want to try and mass arrest the crowd. Eventually they arrest 114 people by the next day and 12 officers were injured.
Do not change or alter this article at all.
Comments on this post
Sun, 10/16/2005 - 7:08pm
Does anyone have information pertaining to arrests and legal support for those arrested? Does anyone close to the scene know of any particular groups/individuals working to aid those arrested? Contact information would be great. Larger actions often have legal and medical support backing. Are those arrested in Akron on their own?
Sun, 10/16/2005 - 8:14pm
Toledo not Akron
Sun, 10/16/2005 - 8:44pm
Hi there. I'm a local here in Toledo present at the Anti-Nazi rally and would just like to give some of what I personally saw. I participated in the Black Bloc with ARA. I have a number of photos that will be posted here and a number of other places.
The ARA and the ISO started from a parking lot several blocks away to march towards the meeting place of the Nazis (Woodward). There we confronted 10 Nazis already being protected with police armed with rifles. We were pushed across the street and our ranks began to swell. There is an estimated 1,000 counter-demonstrators and from what I counted was 12-15 Nazis, one who looked strangely like Bruce Willis. 2 lines of bike cops, one line of cops with shields, 4 mounted patrol, two-by-two column of 50-100 police behind the Nazis, and several police video photographers and camera men suveyed the crowd.
Around 11:30 some of the counter-demostrators threw rocks at the Nazis, a few met their targets. Mounted Patrol tried to break up the crowd but failed miserably. The Nazis then begun to leave (we thought they were heading towards their march route) so we ran to intercept. Crowd then ran and blocked the intersection the Nazis were supposed to come down. A comrade of ours was then arrested and given phoney charges of armed robbery.
At the corner, we found the Nazis had called their rally off (our day is a success). The crowd then turned its anger on police for protecting the Nazis. Rocks were hurled at police cars breaking windows. One car panicked and backed into an ambulance. Bike police and other riot cops came to greet the crowd with tear gas, rubber bullets (I did not see those but the police said they were used), and pepper spray. I witnessed (even shown briefly on 13 ABC, not talked about) police spraying people simply sitting on their porches.
A 13 ABC van was smashed, many police vehicles attacked. I cannot report on anything else as I was not present at the situation at the AP gas station, Syzch's home, or the restraunt.
If anyone wants more information, for me to write stories, or any related business, you can contact me at my email address (don't be stupid about it either) at syndicaliste@iww.org.
Sun, 10/16/2005 - 8:46pm
I wouldn't worry. We've had a few phoney charges but we have some good libertarian left lawyers helping us out. But thanks.
Mon, 10/17/2005 - 3:37am
So that ARA people aree on the same page as you are, please send their names and ways to contact them to me at deanosor@comcast.net. Thanx.
Mon, 10/17/2005 - 4:19am
WE OWNED THE FUCKING CITY !!
ARA VICTORY !!
DEATH TO WHITE RACISTS !!
Mon, 10/17/2005 - 4:59am
From what we have read here there was more than a hundred people arrested. What kind of prison support do you need?
Mon, 10/17/2005 - 8:08am
Thanks for being a great example. Let's hope others emulate your victorious insurrection.
Mon, 10/17/2005 - 11:26am
In response to one group's message, you decided to tear up your neighborhood; you showed them. Now are you going to complain about your neighborhood being a mess? I don't agree with the socialist paryt, but why do you riot at that message but prais the hatred coming from louis farakan? Listen to him talk about jews and whites "crackers" and tell me why he is good.
Mon, 10/17/2005 - 12:59pm
Saturday was a great day to be in Toledo. Not only were the Nazis chased and scared shitless, but a spontaneous autonomous community uprising sprang from the hate that the NSM tried to bring. If we try to cater to the mass media and lead boring ineffectual marches, NOTHING WILL CHANGE. This was an example of a ghetto turning itself into a community and if it pisses someone off, then they don't really get it anyway. For a sweet moment in time, the shoe was on the other foot. Keep fighting Toledo!
- juicebox
Mon, 10/17/2005 - 4:35pm
I can think of no way more likely to result in arrests. If you're going to talk to a lawyer, contact the lawyer directly, not over the Internet. Even the ACLU doesn't like to receive information via email. Email is monitored by the FBI and Homeland Security.
Mon, 10/17/2005 - 5:53pm
Both a joke, seriously look at these pathetic losers.. No one won, the ARA provoked violence and took advantage of a situation that probably would not have happend if they would stayed at home popping their pimples. Everyone knows that the Nazi's are just a bunch of violent thugs who want to murder every person that opposes them. Next time instead of both groups just standing there, why don't you duke it out without weapons... wait, the ARA doesn't fight without weapons and the NSM won't fight a fair fight.. ahahahah
what a bunch of losers
Mon, 10/17/2005 - 5:54pm
end your life
Mon, 10/17/2005 - 8:43pm
Really, without the police around to protect them, these guys wouldn't have even tried to stage a march.
These guys like to spout off surivival of the fittest rhetoric but their posturing is only made possible by the fact that the city of Toledo deploys it's Police dept to protect them from getting stomped into oblivion.
I don't see how they reconcile that reality with their fantasy image of themselves as fearless warriors ready to take on the "mud people."
I guarantee you this. The Mayor of Toledo only need announce there will be no police protection for another Neo-Nazi March-after that, no Neo-Nazis would muster the resolve to march on their own.
They are cowards.
Mon, 10/17/2005 - 11:19pm
"end your life"
Another monosylabic cop oinks out a phrase.
Tue, 10/18/2005 - 12:55am
i don't think they are cowards at all.
nazis don't act in rallies and marches only. those are just to show off their disgusting existance and a wishful recruiting tactic. what concerns me the most is what they do in the neighborhoods they live in, and the people they keep terrifying by at times violent harrassment.
i think they are brave enough to show their real faces (which deserve to be smashed at any chance). neo-nazis (maybe not NSM in particular) are blatent in their message. you do know that we live under racist administration that keeps creatively promoting the legitimization of racism in this country. that is where they get the guts to proudly present their extreme bigotry.
also, i am a little afraid that by default they may have been successful in their recruiting of nazi sympathizers. the lame interpretations of 'black gang' violence against police officers on mass media plays a huge role in this! i am also worried about the 'revenge' cops are going to implement in the neighborhood.
does anybody know what has changed in the area since saturday?? any good observations? someone who lives there maybe?
Tue, 10/18/2005 - 1:00am
how can we promote resistance to serve among cops??
is there anyway to get a cop to officially refuse to be present in their protection? if they do this by mentioning their ethical position, how much do they risk? chance of loosing their jobs?
Tue, 10/18/2005 - 2:40am
Congrats to you all in Toledo,
To ARA and your political allies, good job and I feel sure that you will ignore the neo-liberal whining about "what about our image with the media" etc etc. What you all know, just as anyone not raised in some white-bread, middle-class suburb is that the media are the enemy of poltical activists in this country and the folks that live in working class neighbourhoods know it, after watching a lifetime of racist mis-representation on the corporate media.
I have been following events in Toledo closely. The similarities between events in Ohio, with racist and provocative marches in minorities neighbourhoods and the racist, sectarian and provocative marches in northern Ireland is remarkable. Just as in northern Ireland, where the police (RUC PSNI) protected the right-wing, bigoted thugs of the Orange Order and attacking the people standing up to them, so it is in Toledo where the police attacked the "gangs" i.e. black folk who were standing up to this other group of thugs.
Congrats, good job and keep it up Toledo. You have made us proud. As for the neo-liberals, fuck 'em. tell them to go squeaking and scurring like frightened mice to a John Kerry rally. Oh wait, wasn't there something about John Kerry and John Edwards abandong the people of Ohio when Bush, Rove, Ken Blackwell and Co stole the election in Ohio????
Oh yeahhhhhhh, lets not forget about that eh!!!!!!!
Tue, 10/18/2005 - 2:54am
As a member of the ISO, and a socialist, I wish to congratulate the ARA on showing the Nazi criminals that they will be hunted down wherever they go
VICTORY OVER THE OPPRESSOR
DEATH TO RACIST PIGS
Greg Pason
Tue, 10/18/2005 - 3:16am
Congratulations to the ISO and ARA for confronting these nazi pigs
head on. You show that small fights can lead to bigger fights. We need more of your courage in the struggle.
Tue, 10/18/2005 - 9:10am
Completely stupid. You all need to get your priorities in order. Nothing "good" came out of what happened in Toledo, if you think so, then you need to have your head examined.
Every time blacks riot, you really think it's helping anti-racism? I'm a socialist, and I detest racism, but there's no excuse for criminal behaviour, and it even makes me think, at times, that whites and non-whites are better off seperated...
The last thing I want to add is, freedom of speech is for everyone, not just the people you agree with. Once/if the racists are gone, what are you gonna be targetting next?...
Tue, 10/18/2005 - 12:00pm
Black Bloc are the babies who throw rocks because they don't know any other way to communicate.
Tue, 10/18/2005 - 12:11pm
Greg Pason is not a member of ISO
Tue, 10/18/2005 - 1:50pm
actions like this are what give the radical left a bad name. what sort of society is it where dissent is met with violence?
Tue, 10/18/2005 - 2:19pm
Here's a really nice commentary from a contributor of Clamor Mag:
historymike.blogspot.com
Tue, 10/18/2005 - 6:05pm
Police were ordered to protect Nazis and tear gas Anti-fascists
The police are racist. The state is fascist. The US political, economic, and social system is based on war and racism. Forget the war in Iraq we have a war here everyday. It’s the war on the poor. Both political parties are in on it and in bed with the corporations to get rich on the backs of the poor. They want to divide us along race, gender and class lines but we are getting hip to that. People are starting to see through it.
Let’s break it down for those who don’t get it. First you get kidnapped from your homeland and sold into slavery, then after a civil war you are declared free, but only on paper. Now you are free to be terrorized by group of people dressed up in white hoods, after generations of this you rise up for your civil rights only to have your leaders assassinated by the government. Then you are given more rights, but again only on paper and still if you are willing to work for next to nothing.
So forget about how you look on TV. We are talking about survival.
The system is corrupt to its core it can NOT be reformed. The revolution we need for there to be any kind of justice in this country is long over due. If you have to ask for a right you have already lost it. Nothing is going to been given away by those in power. If you what change you can not ask those in power. You must seize the power. People should be rioting everyday! There should be a general strike! Those in power must be removed, “by any means necessary�
Tue, 10/18/2005 - 8:33pm
I'm currently circulating this:
A good friend of mine appeared on the national news today. I later found out what happened at that arraignment; three charges: aggravated rioting, possession of a weapon in a public place, and disorderly conduct.
Brian was arrested before the riots even began. He was carrying a night stick he bought, which is legal as long as it is not concealed. However, the weapons charge has basis because he was on the property of Woodward School. Brian did not riot. He did not even do anything violent. The police saw him lagging behind the group, and picked him up because he was an easy target. We have his arrest on tape; he did not try to resist. He was surrounded by many police officers, and was arrested before any rioting even happened.
The charge of aggravated rioting is a felony. At Brian's arraignment, bond was posted at $11,150. There was no 10% granted, so the full amount must be paid to bail him out.
If Brian is convicted, he could serve 5 years or more.
Every Friday, Brian feeds needy people with other Food Not Bombs volunteers. Brian has been instrumental in organizing anti-authoritarian movements here in Toledo. He has attended many anti-war demonstrations, and went to the anti-IMF demonstration in Washington, DC. It is safe to say that without Brian, our movement here in Toledo would be close to nonexistent.
Brian is a good person. He is my friend. And he is currently caged up in the Toledo jail, for entirely bogus charges. The worst part is, with our sick justice system, he could even get convicted of a felony and serve time.
It is instrumental that we raise this money to bail Brian out. Please, if you can contribute in any way, I beg you to do so. Hold benefit concerts, dinners, or simply ask people to donate money. Write to your local news papers, or other independent media, to raise awareness. Anything you do, even if it is just spreading this post, is appreciated here by all of Brian's friends. Please, help us to get Brian out of jail. Any further money we raise will be used to pay bail and legal fees for some of the other 114 people arrested for standing up to the police here in Toledo.
If you are interested in helping us with this fight, please contact me at lectricsheeps@sbcglobal.net, and I will send you specific information.
-Chelsea
Tue, 10/18/2005 - 8:38pm
Video of Toledo riots with hip-hop soundtrack
This video from the cleveland indymedia site shows the events from the beginning of the rally to when the protesters start confronting the police.
Tue, 10/18/2005 - 9:06pm
are you suggesting to communicate with neo-nazis!!!??? those who adore hitler!? you've got to be OUT OF YOUR MIND!??
i would not mind reaching out to the youngsters and pulling them out of the hell their leaders are pushing them to but COME ON!!! they had over 200 years to respond to communication and straighten up. if they still find it OK to be fascist and racist they deserve all the violent resistance they get!
Tue, 10/18/2005 - 9:10pm
why is it so hard to understand that if you and your ancestors are oppressed for centuries, and your fellow citizens refuse to get a brain even in this age, you don't have many options left but to sweep those who pose a threat to your existence and those who protect the threat (and oppress you daily with their guns and sticks and uniforms) out of your community!?
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