Emergency Declared After Anti-Nazi Riots
Oct 16 12:27 AM US/Eastern
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By JOHN SEEWER
Associated Press Writer


TOLEDO, Ohio


A crowd protesting a white supremacists' march Saturday turned violent,
throwing baseball-sized rocks at police, vandalizing vehicles and stores,
and setting fire to a neighborhood bar, authorities said.

When Mayor Jack Ford and a local minister tried to calm the rioting, they
were cursed for allowing the march, and Ford said a masked gang member
threatened to shoot him.

At least 65 people were arrested and several police officers were injured
before calm was restored about four hours later.

Ford blamed the rioting on gangs taking advantage of a volatile situation.
He declared a state of emergency, set an 8 p.m. curfew through the weekend,
and asked the Highway Patrol for help.

"It's exactly what they wanted," Ford said of the group that planned the
march, which was canceled because of the rioting.

At least two dozen members of the National Socialist Movement, which calls
itself "America's Nazi Party," had gathered at a city park to march under
police protection. Organizers said they were demonstrating against black
gangs they said were harassing white residents.

The violence broke out about one-quarter of a mile away along the planned
march route shortly before it was to begin. One group of men pounded on a
convenience store, and others overturned vehicles. There was a report of a
shooting but police hadn't found a victim, Police Chief Mike Navarre said.

About 150 police officers chased bands of young men through the area.
Officers wearing gas masks fired tear gas canisters and flash-bang devices
designed to stun suspects, but the groups continued throwing rocks and
bottles. Several officers and firefighters suffered minor injuries, Navarre
said. At one point, the crowd reached 600 people, officials said.

Finally, police marched shoulder-to-shoulder down the street shouting to
people to stay inside, and the crowd of several hundred broke up.

At least 65 people were arrested on charges including assault, vandalism,
failure to obey police and failure to disperse, Navarre said. He said the
white supremacists had left hours earlier.

"We frankly could have made a couple hundred arrests easily," Navarre said.
"We just didn't have the resources on hand to arrest all of them."

The mayor had appealed to residents the night before to ignore the march. He
said the city wouldn't give the Nazi group a permit to march in the streets
but couldn't stop them from walking on the sidewalks.

When the rioting began, Ford tried to negotiate with those involved, but
"they weren't interested in that." He said people in the crowd swore at him
and wanted to know why he was protecting the Nazis.

They were mostly "gang members who had real or imagined grievances and took
it as an opportunity to speak in their own way," Ford said.

"I was chagrined that there were obvious mothers and children in the crowd
with them," he said.

Thomas Frisch, 76, said a large group of men destroyed the exterior of a gas
station next to his home of 30 years.

"A whole big gang started to come in here. Next thing you know, they're
jumping on the car. Then they overturned it. Then they started on the
building, breaking windows, ripping the bars off," he said.

Louis Ratajski, 86, and his nephew, Terry Rybczynski, left Jim & Lou's Bar
as a crowd gathered in front pelting police with rocks and breaking the
windows. They climbed down a fire escape from the apartment where Ratajski
lived over the bar and only later saw the fire on television.

"I was shaking. I feared for my life." Rybczynski said.

Keith White, a black resident, criticized city officials for allowing the
march in the first place.

"They let them come here and expect this not to happen?" said White, 29.

A spokesman for the National Socialist Movement blamed police for losing
control of the situation.

Some melting pot, what? Talk about discredited theories.


"Bob Crantz" wrote in message
k.net...
Emergency Declared After Anti-Nazi Riots
Oct 16 12:27 AM US/Eastern
Email this story

By JOHN SEEWER
Associated Press Writer


TOLEDO, Ohio


A crowd protesting a white supremacists' march Saturday turned violent,
throwing baseball-sized rocks at police, vandalizing vehicles and stores,
and setting fire to a neighborhood bar, authorities said.

When Mayor Jack Ford and a local minister tried to calm the rioting, they
were cursed for allowing the march, and Ford said a masked gang member
threatened to shoot him.

At least 65 people were arrested and several police officers were injured
before calm was restored about four hours later.

Ford blamed the rioting on gangs taking advantage of a volatile situation.
He declared a state of emergency, set an 8 p.m. curfew through the
weekend,
and asked the Highway Patrol for help.

"It's exactly what they wanted," Ford said of the group that planned the
march, which was canceled because of the rioting.

At least two dozen members of the National Socialist Movement, which calls
itself "America's Nazi Party," had gathered at a city park to march under
police protection. Organizers said they were demonstrating against black
gangs they said were harassing white residents.

The violence broke out about one-quarter of a mile away along the planned
march route shortly before it was to begin. One group of men pounded on a
convenience store, and others overturned vehicles. There was a report of a
shooting but police hadn't found a victim, Police Chief Mike Navarre said.

About 150 police officers chased bands of young men through the area.
Officers wearing gas masks fired tear gas canisters and flash-bang devices
designed to stun suspects, but the groups continued throwing rocks and
bottles. Several officers and firefighters suffered minor injuries,
Navarre
said. At one point, the crowd reached 600 people, officials said.

Finally, police marched shoulder-to-shoulder down the street shouting to
people to stay inside, and the crowd of several hundred broke up.

At least 65 people were arrested on charges including assault, vandalism,
failure to obey police and failure to disperse, Navarre said. He said the
white supremacists had left hours earlier.

"We frankly could have made a couple hundred arrests easily," Navarre
said.
"We just didn't have the resources on hand to arrest all of them."

The mayor had appealed to residents the night before to ignore the march.
He
said the city wouldn't give the Nazi group a permit to march in the
streets
but couldn't stop them from walking on the sidewalks.

When the rioting began, Ford tried to negotiate with those involved, but
"they weren't interested in that." He said people in the crowd swore at
him
and wanted to know why he was protecting the Nazis.

They were mostly "gang members who had real or imagined grievances and
took
it as an opportunity to speak in their own way," Ford said.

"I was chagrined that there were obvious mothers and children in the crowd
with them," he said.

Thomas Frisch, 76, said a large group of men destroyed the exterior of a
gas
station next to his home of 30 years.

"A whole big gang started to come in here. Next thing you know, they're
jumping on the car. Then they overturned it. Then they started on the
building, breaking windows, ripping the bars off," he said.

Louis Ratajski, 86, and his nephew, Terry Rybczynski, left Jim & Lou's Bar
as a crowd gathered in front pelting police with rocks and breaking the
windows. They climbed down a fire escape from the apartment where Ratajski
lived over the bar and only later saw the fire on television.

"I was shaking. I feared for my life." Rybczynski said.

Keith White, a black resident, criticized city officials for allowing the
march in the first place.

"They let them come here and expect this not to happen?" said White, 29.

A spokesman for the National Socialist Movement blamed police for losing
control of the situation.

DO THE MATH...


RACIST MARCHING NAZIs + Black Mayor + Black Toledo Neighborhood + Bloods
Street Gang + Cops = Riot... * DUH

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll...0403/-1/NEWS11

"Ford, you're black! You're supposed to be one of us!" shrieked one
young woman.

"Why did you allow them to be here?" one young man with a red bandanna
demanded. "That's the main question, man!"