I hate that I’m quoting the EdmontonSun, the smut newspaper source of this fair capitol city but….White supremacists and anti-racist demonstrators clashed in Calgary’s downtown core yesterday.
oh thank god i found a better source. Here is the CBC.ca source:
“Bottles, rocks and signs were thrown by both sides and at least two people received treatment for head injuries. No one was seriously injured.
More than 400 people supporting the Calgary chapter of the Anti-Racist Action group gathered outside Calgary City Hall Saturday morning to commemorate the UN-sponsored International Day to Eliminate Racial Discrimination.
They were met at the intersection of 7th Avenue and 6th Street SW at about 3 p.m. by about 50 members of the neo-Nazi Aryan Guard. The group’s members, many of whom covered their faces with scarves and sunglasses to conceal their identities, brandished Nazi flags and placards emblazoned with white pride slogans.
They had begun their march commemorating “White Pride World Day” near Mewata Armouries and were making their way to City Hall, chanting slogans, when the anti-racism demonstrators blocked their path.
Jason Devine, a spokesman for Anti-Racist Action, said his group took the neo-Nazi march as “spit in the face of all Canadians and anyone in the world who is against racism. So we’re here to demonstrate our diversity and unity and also to oppose racism.”
Police, on hand to keep the groups separated, were hard pressed to keep the two sides apart, and had to break up several fights.
Many members of the anti-racism contingent criticized police officers for protecting the neo-Nazi group.
The city of Calgary said in a statement that “the role of the Calgary Police Service at public protests is to ensure public and officer safety and to protect individual rights to express their views peacefully as outlined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.”
The city said Calgary Transit buses experienced some delays because of the melee.
Police arrested three people. Charges are pending.
A study by Statistics Canada released in June showed Calgary had the highest rate of hate-motivated crime in the country. In 2006, 92 hate crimes were reported in the city — about nine incidents for every 100,000 people in the city, or three times higher than the national average of three per 100,000.
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i say:
This gives me the heebee geebees hardcore. Hopefully the anti-racists got a few good shots in. The cops protected the aryans while the anti-racist crowds were heard screaming “Don’t protect these fuckers” to the police…chants which fell on deaf ears taking that within the criminal statute these fuckers have “rights” . Isn’t that convienient?? If only my people and many others like myself had that luxury a few year ago of being protected by law ourselves. It’s all a big load of bullshit. As a minority and member of the queer community i know what it feels like to be on lower side of Justice’s scale and to see the police protecting these idiots is more than infuriating. It’s a reminder why i don’t trust cops worth a god damn. They say an eye for an eye makes the whole world go blind, but i don’t need sight if I know who to fight. OoOoh i should copyright that shit . hahaha
but really. I wish i knew about this protest ahead of time and not a day after the fact.
