Seven people were injured, two of them critically, after a stabbing incident during a neo-Nazi rally at California’s state capitol building, Saturday.
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Reportedly, the Traditionalist Worker Party, identified as a white nationalist extremist group staged the California rally to protest against the violence witnessed in Trump’s rallies, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.
In an online post, the Traditionalist Youth Network, which is closely tied to the group that organized the rally, seemed to be aware that they would be met with by counter-protests.
One activist told the Times that violence began immediately.
“They attacked each other without hesitation”, Chandra Zafra, 50, said. Reportedly, numerous protesters dressed in black, wearing face masks and hoodies which made it hard to distinguish at times who was on which side.
None of the injuries were life-threatening and there were no immediate reports of arrests, Granada said.
But police faced criticism Monday about whether they were properly prepared or too slow to get involved when the demonstration quickly turned violent in a clash with a larger group of counter-protesters. About 400 anti-fascists confronted about 30 white supremacists. Granada said that another group appeared to stop them group from carrying on their permit.
“With the eyes of the world’s media on both Philadelphia and Cleveland, no doubt there will be significant protests”, said Democratic strategist Steve Schale.
The members of the TWP and supporters came out to a location south of the Capitol building at around 11:45 am. “That is why we have to shut them down”, Yvette Felarca, a counter-protester wearing a white bandage on her head, told reporters after the clash. “The problem is when you have multiple flashpoints with a movable mob, some of whom are predisposed to violence, it makes it really hard to control”. “And some of the anti-fascists very much wanted to have a violent confrontation”. “I think this was inevitable this was going to happen”.
He said one of the group’s marchers had been stabbed in an artery and six counter-protesters had also been wounded.
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“They clearly are not here to just speak and talk”. The counter protestors included people from BAMN. “As legal observers we have never seen it before”.
