December 13, 2005
The neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement (NSM) held a rally in Toledo, Ohio, on December 10, 2005, in an effort to gain media attention and exploit racial tensions.
The hour-long rally at City Hall included 63 neo-Nazis, some in uniform. Bill White, a Virginia NSM member and owner of the anti-Semitic Overthrow.com Web site, said the rally included members of the Ku Klux Klan, Retaliator Skinhead Nation and the Creativity Movement.
Participants held placards, including one reading, “White race, stand up and take back your neighborhood.” They were surrounded by hundreds of police and about 170 observers and counter-protesters.
After speaking for an hour, the neo-Nazis left in a caravan of cars, escorted by police. Police Chief Mike Navarre said about 700 officers from across northern Ohio were present at the rally. While 30 people were arrested, mostly counter-demonstrators and all for misdemeanor offenses, police were able to control the rally and avoid the violence that marked the NSM march in Toledo in October.
At that time, about two dozen members of the group were confronted by hundreds of counter-protestors, including anti-racist and anarchist groups and local youths. The angry crowd of counter-protesters soon got out of control, throwing rocks and bricks at police officers, vandalizing cars, and setting a building on fire. Over 100 people were arrested and about a dozen officers wounded, prompting Toledo officials to declare a state of emergency.