This past Saturday in Phoenix AZ, white supremacist members of the Neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement protested in front of the Sandra Day O’Connor Federal Court Building and a riot broke out.
Counter protesters showed up along with 100 police officers in riot gear.
According to the local ABC affiliate (watch video below) the Nazis had a permit to hold their protest rally while the anti-Nazi protesters did not. Soon violence broke out and the anti-Nazi protesters were throwing rocks at the Nazi’s as well as the police, and the police responded with tear gas and pepper spray.
Two arrests were made for throwing rocks at police officers according to Sgt. Tommy Thompson with the Phoenix Police Department and charged with aggravated assault.
The Neo-Nazis were there to protest the Federal Governments hold on Arizona’s controversial and unconstitutional anti-immigration Bill SB 1070.
From Thinkprogress.org
It’s not surprising that SB-1070 has attracted extremism. The lawyers who are credited with authoring it are employed by an organization that has reportedly accepted $1.2 million in donations from the Pioneer Fund, "a foundation established to promote the genes of white colonials." The law’s sponsor, state Rep. Russell Pearce (R-AZ), has faced criticism in the past for cozying up to local neo-Nazis. He even endorsed one of "Arizona’s leading neo-Nazis," J.T. Ready, when the he ran for City Council in the spring of 2006.
Meanwhile, a recent poll revealed that many Arizonans think the immigration debate has "exposed a deeper sense of racism in our community."
White supremacist organizations across the country have seen their ranks swell as Fox News and its echo chambers have fanned the flames of racism with their xenophobic rants and rhetoric against African Americans, Mexicans and Muslims since Barack Obama was elected President according to a study by the Department of Homeland Security that was coordinated by the FBI.