A “White Lives Matter” rally in Buffalo, New York called by a neo-Nazi group was outnumbered by counter protesters about 100 to 1 and several fights broke out between the demonstrators before the racists had to admit defeat and go home, local media reported Saturday.
The rally was called by the U.S.-based neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement but, according to Buffalo News, only a few supporters showed up along with only one neo-Nazi organizer, white supremacist Karl Hand of Lockport.
After hearing about the rally, more than 300 counter protesters showed up. A video of the event showed a woman telling Hand that “nobody is going to take your shit in this day and age, you are sick people … the rest of the United States is going to trample you out.”
Meanwhile, while Buffalo Police had dozens of officers on the scene, a fight broke out between a man wearing a green “White Pride” t-shirt and some of the counter-protesters. His t-shirt was ripped off in the scuffle.
The neo-Nazis’ efforts to carry out their racist rally were frustrated by the loud and much bigger counter protest.
“I came to hear what (Hand) had to say. Obviously I won’t be able to do that,” Anthony Chaman complained to Syracuse.com, according to Raw Story. He added that he supports white separation but insisted he isn’t a racist.
Such demonstrations have become more common amid the rhetoric by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump that has equated Mexicans with rapists and criminals, while calling for a ban on Muslims entering the country. Trump also has vowed to build a wall across the U.S.-Mexican border.
Many have likened Trump to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and many Nazi groups in the U.S. have expressed support for his presidential bid and have said they will vote for him in November.