Nazis kicked out of Toledo

On Oct. 9, local anarchists, trade unionists and socialists in Toledo, Ohio, quickly put together an effective anti-Nazi united front to confront a march and rally set by the so-called National Socialist Movement for six days later. The NSM, a Nazi party, claimed it was coming to Toledo to show white people how to fight gang violence in an integrated yet predominantly Black north Toledo neighborhood.

The whole episode with the NSM Nazis revolved around a neighborhood dispute between Thomas Szych, who is white, and his Black neighbors. In early August, Szych waved a loaded gun at some children who were taking garbage out to the street. In response, two African-American police officers confiscated Szych's gun--but the local prosecutor did not file any criminal charges, not even a misdemeanor.

Szych called the two police officers "gorillas with guns." He promptly went to the local news media to get attention for his demand to have his gun returned.

While it is not clear who called in the NSM Nazis--Szych or one of his relatives--the fact remains that the NSM Nazis from Roanoke, Va., chose this incident as an excuse to come to Toledo on Oct. 15.

For almost nine days, the local news media, radio, television and newspaper gave an open forum to the NSM Nazis. But not one anti-Nazi activist was allowed to speak anywhere.

Only one newspaper, The Toledo Free Press, printed a small article about the anti-fascist united front that planned to confront the Nazis "head on."

Toledo Mayor Jack Ford urged everyone to simply "ignore" the Nazis. A local coalition of church and community groups scheduled an "Erase the Hate" unity rally at a senior center in the neighborhood for the same day as the Nazi rally and march.

In the meantime, members of the anti-fascist coalition of anarchists, unionists and socialists were busy passing out almost 2,500 leaflets in Toledo, especially in north Toledo. In addition to recruiting anti-Nazi protesters from other cities, there was direct communication with North End gang members, who decided to call a truce with each other and cooperate with the peaceful protest, along with their white allies, to confront the Nazis.

The Nazis finally announced the location of their rally and march on the very morning of Oct. 15. The socialist and anarchist factions, numbering about 80 people total, marched down Stickney Avenue toward Woodward High School, where less than 20 NSM Nazis were surrounded by some 150 police, some in full riot gear, others on horseback and bicycles. Almost all the cops were white because those of color had called in sick for that day.

By 11:30 a.m., the two separate units of anarchists and socialists had attracted about 700 people from the neighborhood facing the eastern side of Woodward High School. The small squad of Nazis shouted taunts and racial insults at the crowd, which was growing.

The socialists, leading the chants with their bullhorns, chanted: "Nazis out! Nazis out!" The crowd of neighborhood people changed the words to: "Nazis out! Knock 'em out!"

Soon, small children throwing stones, bottles or broomsticks advanced in front of the adults to stand directly in front of the police blueshirts, who were defending the Nazi brownshirts.

The Nazis quickly withdrew. The mass of people assumed they were going to start their planned march down Mulberry Street, just a few blocks away.

The crowd moved to get past platoons of riot cops, who tried to clear Mulberry Street for the Nazis to march. But the cops could not open the street, even using CS teargas, since the wind quickly dispersed it.

In response to the police firing tear gas, chunks of concrete, bricks and stones started to hit the police. One brick smashed the window of a cruiser, making the car stop which resulted in an ambulance crashing into its rear end.

The police could not disperse nor clear the crowd at Mulberry and Central. Police Chief Navarre told the NSM Nazis to "get out of town or be arrested."

The Nazis were whisked away--but the crowd did not know it for almost half an hour. They did not yet know that they had stopped the neo-Nazis from setting their boots on Toledo's streets.

Mayor Ford, who had advised everyone to stay away from the Nazis, did not follow his own advice. He had to be at the confrontation site on Stickney Avenue. One of the church leaders who had called the "Erase the Hate" unity rally was not even at his own event; he too was with the hundreds of people confronting the Nazis on Stickney.

In the melee at Mulberry and Central, police arrested some 60 anti-Nazi protesters. Later in the afternoon some minor rioting occurred. One gas station was destroyed, cars were turned over and a tavern was set ablaze. These were businesses that the local people knew as supporting the neo-Nazi cause.

The anti-Nazi coalition is holding together. It plans to begin a political as well as legal defense campaign for the 60 adult political prisoners charged with aggravated riot felonies. There are also some 30 to 40 juvenile prisoners from the riot in the late afternoon.

The coalition will demand amnesty for all the anti-Nazi political prisoners and will demand that Mayor Ford take full responsibility for all the events in north Toledo. Instead of the mayor telling the Nazis where they had to be if they wanted Toledo police protection, the Nazis dictated to the mayor where he must provide police protection. If these fascist or hate groups want to march through residential areas, they can do so, but only without police protection--in other words, at their own risk and at no cost to the city.

The coalition feels a great sense of pride that we kept the Nazis off our streets and forced the police to get them out of town, quickly. This was a mini-insurrection by the local residents--one of the few times that the alliance of cops and neo-fascists failed to accomplish a march or rally in the United States.

For more information, see the blogsite of Michael Brooks at historymike.blogspot.com. Text or photos can be copied from the blogsite as long as proper attribution is given.