On September 14, Nazis congregated in Wakefield Massachusetts to see Matt Hale, leader of a white supremacist group “World Church of the Creator” (WCOTC), speak at a public library. But the Progressive Labor Party (PLP), a communist organization, some of whose members attend UMass Boston, weren’t about to let the hate group have its day without a fight.
PLP members handed out flyers around campus with an article titled “Keep Nazi Hale out of Wakefield” a few days prior to the event. It contained quotes from Matt Hale, such as “[black people] owe whites reparations for the destruction they have caused for over 300 years” and that Hitler “…was the greatest white leader who ever lived.”
The anti-racists were furious that a public library would close down for several hours so that Nazis could spread hate and attempt to recruit people for what they openly call a “Racial Holy War.” Their battle cry is RaHoWa.
Nazi groups, bolstered by their August 24 rally in Washington, D.C that attracted about 1000 white supremacists, have been on a national campaign to recruit new members. They’ve been speaking at towns with small minority populations such as Wakefield, which is 97% white.
A group of 30 anti-racists, 7 of the protesters attend UMass Boston, arrived at the library at noon, to find about 200 police officers in riot gear standing in formation in front of the building. On surrounding rooftops, camouflaged sniper observer teams sat peering down at the crowd with binoculars.
A picket line was started in front of the library. The PLP held up signs that read “death to the fascists, power to the workers” and with a loud speaker, began chants like “Arab, Jewish, Black and White. To smash the Nazis we must unite.” Speakers took the microphone to tell Wakefield the seriousness of the Nazi presence, the history of the holocaust, and the hate group’s current agenda. They also called out against the war on Iraq and for workers to unite under communism to fight injustice.
Soon after the PLP arrived on the scene, a crowd of spectators began to gather across the street from the library. About eight white supremacists stood outside the library, some wearing T-shirts with photos of Adolph Hitler and giving the Nazi salute. They held up signs that read, “Diversity is genocide on the white man” and “What if America was run by Americans?”
Anti-racists claimed that the only thing that was keeping them from “kicking the shit out of the Nazis” were the police. PLP leaders said on loudspeaker, “They’ve got their fascist buddies. That’s why they’re not getting stomped today.”
However, before the protesters got their chance, about 600 residents of Wakefield, many unimpressed by the PLP’s aggressive stance, crossed the street to the small Nazi group and demanded they leave. The police did not attempt to stop local residents and protesters flooding the white supremacists with ridicule and spit, but they did stand between the two groups in order to avoid violence. It was nevertheless inescapable. A female Nazi, who passed the barricade of officers and stepped up to the picketers to sneer at them, was hit on the head with a picket and then a spilling soda can. She was bleeding from the head, to the enjoyment of some anti-racists who began to clap and chant.
Zack Roberts, a UMB student, along with a few other PLP members demanded that they be admitted into the public library. When the police finally agreed, the PLP members were frisked twice before they were escorted in. Once inside, Zack and others disrupted the meeting by chanting anti-Nazi slogans and were removed by police.
Fighting broke out a second time as 50 Nazis emerged from the library and walked right into the crowd of protesters. Several anti-racist protesters snuck up behind one of the white supremacists and smacked him over the head repeatedly. The burly neo-Nazi crumbled to the ground with a whimper, yelping “Help, police!”
Authorities eventually charged the PLP, arresting 4 members for disorderly conduct.
Edward Harris, dispatched by the US Justice Department to Wakefield as a conciliation specialist to assist police, said, “If folks are not obeying, if they’re violent by throwing rocks or [other means], they’re going to get arrested. And that’s exactly what happened.”
Zack was one of the four arrested but said that he was taken downtown and immediately released. One PLP member is, however, facing charges for assault.
Matt Hale is apparently planning to speak in more east coast cities in the following weeks and anti-racist groups across the US are committed to giving him a fight every time.