White supremacists versus the community: Austin and Twin Cities activists confront the NSM

Austin, Minnesota (Updated 8pm Sunday)--It was fifty facing off four: fifty activists from southern Minnesota-based Centro Campesino, Anti-Racist Action, Bash Back--Twin Cities and other Minnesota activist organizations across from four members of the National Socialist Movement.  As they do every so often, the neo-nazis rallied on Saturday at the Veterans' Memorial in Austin's quiet downtown, across the street from popular local restaurant El Mariachi.

In this town of 25,000 about two hours south of the Twin Cities, it's hard to find someone who doesn't have experience in the meatpacking industry.  The legacy of the contentious 1985-6 Hormel strike, combined with Bush-era rhetoric targeting undocumented immigrants and the divide-and-conquer strategy of right-wing bosses has led to animosity from some white residents.  They say Latina/o workers are lowering wages and taking their jobs.  In this context, overt white supremacists have begun to gain public acceptance.

After neo-nazi speeches were drowned out by the screams of the anti-racist crowd on Saturday afternoon, police protection from three different agencies arrived for the NSM.  Three people were arrested while others were sprayed with mace.  What led to this scene, and what lessons were learned?

This is Part 1 of a two-part article on Saturday's events.  Check back to TCIMC later for Part 2.  Related: Neo-nazis Repelled from YWCA in Minneapolis | Photos below

The strike, the city and the future

As anti-racist protesters arrived, organizer Ernesto Velez Busto of Centro Campesino gave some background to the situation and spoke of his hopes for a larger campaign.   Austin is heavily dependent on one employer, meat products giant and Spam-producer Hormel.  In the wake of a hard-fought and desperate 1985 strike quelled by the National Guard and national union leaders, the company began to replace strikers with lower-waged workers, many of them recent immigrants who were vulnerable to company pressure.  "This town has a history," emphasized Velez Busto.  "There's this mentality of not looking at the top tier, the [company] that's screwing both sides."  He pointed out that immigration reform, which is opposed by the neo-nazis, would improve life for US-born and immigrant Austin workers alike by providing steps to citizenship and protection for documented and undocumented workers, preventing unscrupulous corporations from exploiting immigrant workers for low wage labor.

Centro organized a series of workshops in Austin in September, part of a weekend of rallies and educational events in the towns of Owatonna, Austin and Albert Lea.  Entitled "Latino Voices," "Immigration 101," and "Taking Action in Our Communities and Organizing For Reform," the workshops were well-attended by immigrant advocates, Austin city employees and curious area residents.  Meeting with city employees in particular, Velez Busto said, "allows us to go deeper in our work" by making the city itself feel accountable for what's going on. But the sessions also drew three surprise attendees: members of the NSM.

He also noted that NSM member Samuel Johnson had complained in the workshop that local companies would rather hire immigrant workers because they could be pressured to work for less.  "That's where we're not so different," said Velez Busto lightly. "We'd like to make more money per hour too."

In an Austin Daily Herald article the next Monday, the Herald quoted Johnson as saying during the workshop, “There’s three neo-nazis here, and the rest of you are liberal communists.”

Velez Busto was optimistic about the results of the counter-demonstration Saturday.  Although he stressed his hopes for a peaceful event, "it's almost impossible not to have the shouting."  The media coverage, he hoped, would have a positive impact for the Latin@ community.  "[It's good when] people come here and support these communities who don't always expect that."  He did point out, however, that local media coverage was often skewed against immigrants' rights and speculated about the fact that papers in almost every nearby town are owned by the same man.

In fact, the Herald rarely identifies the small NSM group as neo-nazis.  For example, despite wearing swastikas and running a website with the number "88" - meaning "Heil Hitler" - the newspaper still described Sunday's event as simply "a rally against illegal immigration" and did not use the words "neo-nazi" or "white supremacist" at all.

In the future, Velez Busto said, he'd like to see a local media campaign, perhaps involving local businesses, to bring townspeople together against racism.  He hopes to work on more community forums, workshops, movie discussions and round tables to "create conversations [among] city residents and at the same time create peer pressure" to step up against racism.  He also feels that the city government must take a more active role in making clear that racist sentiments and the National Socialist Movement are not welcome in Austin.

Who are the neo-neo-nazis?

There aren't very many members of the NSM.  It's difficult, after all, to recruit people to openly idolize Hitler.  At their last two demonstrations, only four have been in evidence, all white men whose ages appeared to range from their late twenties through their fifties.  Their rhetoric seems clownish and contradictory--while repeating the same material found on their website and spouted by them at every event, they accuse anti-racists of having the "the same old ideas".  After attempting to demonstrate in Minneapolis last month, on Saturday they told Twin Cities protesters (who comprised perhaps three-fourths of the counter-demonstration) to "get out of their town".  To the amusement of many, they spoke about "marxist communist anarchists"--but only after a long period of describing all their opposition as "communistic marxists".  

Interestingly, one neo-nazi described himself as a Republican and alleged that the police are part of the same "fascist" grouping as the ARA, Centro Campesino and liberals in general.  This did not prevent him or the rest of the NSM from accepting a police escort away from the demonstration.

A local resident described NSM member Sam Johnson as a failed pro skateboarder turned drug-dealer now turned white supremacist, while a passing Viet Nam veteran remarked, "I fought in Viet Nam for four years for this country....these idiots have never even been out of Mower County."

Among their recent demonstrations, the NSM also held a counterprotest of a Centro Campesino vigil in the nearby city of Fairbault on July 10 and 11.  In a Herald article on that event, an NSM member is quoted as saying, "Hitler is not dead; he’s alive in our hearts."  And on their website, the neo-nazis brag about a petition against "illegal immigration" they delivered to the Austin City Council, then deride the city's mayor for not signing on.

Austinites respond

The most vocal Austinites at the demonstration were veterans who were appalled to see the war memorial used by four men who support Hitler and who freely and loudly heckled the "bald-headed assholes" at the foot of the memorial wall.

Residents Jordyn and Shaina, who had been eating lunch at El Mariachi and stopped to see what was going on, did not like the NSM presence at the war memorial and were also dismayed by the NSM's support for Hitler.  Both young women described the NSM as hypocrites and referenced the criminal record of one NSM member. Jordyn added that she welcomed immigrants--"they're just trying to come up here and succeed," she said, "as long as they pay their taxes like everybody else."

Another Austin resident, Brayan, said that he was glad to see the anti-racist protestors defending Latin@ immigrants. "I'm kind of mad with the people who think we're out here to hurt America," he said.  "We're just coming here to get better lives.  He said he did not feel that most Austin residents supported the neo-nazis.

Lucas, however, felt that the anti-racist protesters were too violent and used unneccessary profanity. He described undocumented immigrants "banking on welfare" and felt that while US citizens who are employed in Austin spend most of their money in Austin, immigrant workers send money back home, taking it out of local circulation.  When talking about the tough economic times that have struck Austin, he spoke of his mother, who is out of work and is having trouble getting government aid.   He spoke against undocumented immigrants, though recognizing that there were "long lines" for those who apply for US visas, but "they just come here and get sent back anyway."  Lucas described Mexico as a corrupt country whose policies drive its citizens out.  "Why don't they get organized and go against the government?" he said.

Jonathan, an Austin resident who attended the anti-racist demonstration, said that at other rallies, the neo-nazis had claimed not to be racist, emphasizing only their anti-immigrant stance.  This rally, he said, was the most clearly white supremacist one he'd seen. "Some of the slower people in town," he said, had initially believed that the NSM were not racist.  "There's people on the fence," he said, "people who don't want to come out as nazis" but who sympathize with racist and anti-immigrant views. He talked about watching a documentary about the dangers faced by undocumented workers trying to cross the border. 

He and his friend Aaron, another Austinite, talked about the Hormel strike and how hard the accompanying job losses and pay cuts had been for the town. Aaron's grandfather "fixed the spam machines," and had made the difficult decision to go back to Hormel after the strike was lost because he needed to support his family.  Both Aaron and Jonathan connected the strike to anti-immigrant sentiments in Austin.

Jonathan described an earlier NSM rally in June at which a counter-demonstration organized by local immigrants' rights supporters. He said that police took pictures of all the counter-demonstrators, even though everyone simply stood well away from the neo-nazis, holding signs on the sidewalk. It seemed to him, he said, that according to the arrest records in the local paper there was a spike in arrests and immigration charges for Latin@ Austinites in the wake of the demonstration.

This Saturday, as the crowd began to grow and police began to arrive, most of the local Latina/o activists present early on chose to leave the scene.

The arrests

What looked to be the same four neo-nazis who showed up to try and protest the Minneapolis "Confronting White Supremacy" workshop last month arrived at the Veterans Memorial, on the lawn of the Mower County law enforcement center, before anyone else.  Slowly, a crowd of about 50 arrived in opposition to the neo-nazis, who didn't hold signs or flags but instead stared down the anti-racists and exchanged verbal barbs.

When one neo-nazi tried to read a speech through a megaphone, the crowd boisterously drowned him out with chants of "No Nazis, No KKK, No Fascist USA."  A few rotten vegetables had been lofted his way.

Soon, as one demonstrator attempted to take a photo of NSM member Robert Hester, Hester swatted the man's cell phone away, sending it flying through the air and breaking its screen.  Austin police moved in, but did nothing except tell the anti-racist demonstrator to move back.  As the crowd grew more upset, it became louder but didn't appear to physically threaten either the neo-nazis or the police.  Nonetheless, police charged, spraying several people with mace.  A demonstrator later said that in the melee, somebody tripped over the neo-nazis' sound system.  This apparently became the alleged basis for at least one arrest.

Shortly thereafter, an Austin police officer maced and arrested someone who allegedly threw a "glitter bomb" towards a neo-nazi, whose all-black outfit sparkled with yellow glitter.  Then, another officer reached past a banner to grab and arrest another activist; video footage shows the activist had done nothing but stand in place prior to the arrest.  Two of the arrestees were from the Twin Cities; one was from Austin.

About half an hour later, police suggested to the neo-nazis that they leave, then escorted them inside the law enforcement center, presumably to be accompanied to their car at a later time.

Despite their claims of neutrality, police officers' actions led many to the conclusion they sided with the neo-nazis.  Also stirring controversy was the presence of the Minnesota Peace Team, an organization which sends members to act as self-proclaimed peacekeepers but which some demonstrators felt escalated the conflict.  They had been invited by Centro Campesino to attend previous events in Austin, such as the rallies in September.  On Sunday, they generally stood between the anti-racists and the neo-nazis, and, said some demonstrators, repeated commands of the Austin police.

One of those arrested, a trans activist, described his experience in jail.  He said that when he was initially booked, the arresting officers repeatedly asked him what he was being charged with, although he didn't know.  Officers also asked if he was a boy or a girl, then followed up with "what were you born as?"  When the activist replied that he was born trans, he heard someone say, "he was born trans--he doesn't have any genitals."  Another officer took him aside into a conference room and asked whether he it was true that "you don't have boy parts".  After multiple consultations, however, the arresting officers did book him into the men's holding section.

Two of the arrestees were charged with unlawful assembly - although no dispersal order was given in the public park - and obstruction of property, both misdemeanors.  The other, according to the Austin Daily Herald, was charged with disorderly conduct and criminal damage to property.

Court dates have been set for October 26 at the Mower County Courthouse, 201 1st Street NE, Austin.

Check back later for Part 2: Austin is a company town--local struggles against racism and union-busting

The four nazis showed up at the Veterans Memorial before any anti-racists arrived.  Ironically, they later quoted holocaust denier David Irving - who was recently imprisoned in Austria for his Nazi activity - while responding to a question about WWII from a protester.

soon anti-racist activists began to arrive, this one carrying a captured white supremacist flag altered to say "Made in Taiwan"

This neo-nazi received much verbal abuse for (among other things) his poor spelling ability

Police try to push the crowd back...

...then spray and charge.  A reporter later asked an officer why they used mace.  "Criminal damage to property" was the perplexing reply.  Several people were hit but none suffered lasting injuries.

Later they try again...

And snatch someone, the third arrestee

One Nazi tore up an ARA flag while the protesters mocked him

Glitter bomb!

Yes folks, they really are neo-Nazis.

Soon the NSM packs up and leaves, accompanied by the Austin chief of police (green shirt)