Comments

4
I'm confused. Are they having the next GOP debate tomorrow in Ballard?
5
It could still be a hoax. Anyhow it will raining and miserable all weekend.
7
When I want to see guys dressed in leather who are pretending to be macho, I go to Capitol Hilll
8
wait... a march is "neo-nazi terrorism"? isn't it free speech?

did the hammerskins make actual threats of violence against capitol hill?
9
I didn't know that there were ANY Anti-Fascist groups here in Seattle, as the OP suggest. Their getting together must be a rare event indeed. It's not too often that one needs an Anti-Fascist protest group. But, I'm glad we have one. I wonder how long they'll have to wait until their next gig?
10
@9 Depends, when is your next nazi rally?
11
@10, whenever you have some free time.
12
And when was the last Nazi rally? I know they happen from time to time but they are low key affairs in rural remote areas; never in an urban core, they wouldn't stand a chance. I think this is more bogus hyperbolic reporting.
13
There is a greater worry of ISIL cells than Nazi rallies. And no, it is not racist or anti-Muslim to acknowledge reality.
14
#9, they've been meeting together multiple times a week for several months now. They had the big BLM rally and the Black Friday protest. There's Christmas Tree lightings to disrupt. This is prime protest season. If you haven't seen one of their gigs yet, you've been poking your head in the sand.
15
@13
The FBI disagrees with you
16
@15: The FBI has identified ISIL in every state. I'm sure it monitors nazi like groups and individuals as well. One does not preclude the other.
17
@ 16
Definitely. Screw all those guys.
Ive just heard that the FBI said they view the white power movement as more dangerous. Mostly because they are more pervasive.
19
@18 In my view It doesn't matter if it's a hoax or not. White supremecists have publicised an event in Seattle and I'd like to see a large unwelcoming party ready to meet them. Whether they see it in person or on the news I hope they get the same message: Not Welcome.
20
"I called almost every Ballard venue I could think of, but no one had heard of the bands Ironwill (not this Ironwill) and Beer Hall Putsch"

At an event years ago that I mentioned in another thread, the bands were booked under different names so the venue had no idea beforehand.
21
I find statist-progressives to be quite fascist. Like those agitating for "safe spaces" (aka: adult day care) on college campuses and other public areas, and using threats of violence to accomplish their goals. Talk about Brownshirts!
22
So, nobody's sure whether there really is going to be a show, but they're organizing a protest anyway. You gotta love Seattle!
23
The last standoff was barley reported in Oly which was a full on riot. Don't know why the reporter here hasn't mentioned the number of standoffs that have occurred this year between the Nazi's and local activists but everyone is coming to fight. I am shocked on how no one cares. This is a group that has committed terrorists acts, who wants to kill people in our community and everyone is in denial.
24
@23 - Its not that we don't care; its just that we expect reporters to chase the red herrings for us.
25
I'm not surprised that the neo-Nazis are taking more brazen action these days. They're probably emboldened by the fact that racist, fascist rhetoric once confined to the political fringe is now being embraced by mainstream Republican candidates around the country. If I was a white supremacist, I'd be feeling good about my odds in 2015 America.
26
@21 when they curb stomp you, let me know.
27
This thread makes it easy to see why Nazis don't make press in the PNW. People don't think white terrorists can be real. Folks are in complete denial and if an editor knows that the public is apathetic to a story, it isn't going to run. The denial is so strong. If you have the attention span to do your own research google "Northwest Front," "Rose City Antifa," and "Hammerskins." These folks are openly planning attacks on our black, brown, and Jewish communities. Maybe after another attack maybe people will start to pay attention, or more likely they will sweep it under the rug as someone with "mental illness" so they don't have to do anything. Wake up people. Your time to intervene is NOW. If you want to keep your community safe, don't let terrorists openly organize in your communities. If ISIS was having a concert in Ballard would you care? You should care at least as much for this event.
28
I would bet ANYTHING that there are no fascists and this is all fake. Happened here in Olympia already (or didn't, I mean; the antifascist rioters had a grand time though). Don't get me wrong, the only thing I hate more than Illinois Nazis are PNW Nazis, but there aren't any gathering plans for Ballard.
29
@ 28
http://mynorthwest.com/11/2768318/White-…
https://olydocuments.wordpress.com
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/06/watch-co…
30
@29: Those links are broken!
31
If people are too lazy to use google when there is a threat to their neighborhoods maybe they deserve Nazis. Just know you were warned. Smh.
32
Maybe they're gonna take an Uber to "Cap" Hill? They aint walking.
33
Sounds like a hoax or like one of those fake hate crime/cries for attention that the SJW crowd is famous for.
34
I think Black Lives Matter is planning some nice activities in the general vacinity. And I'm not talkin about a bake sale.
35
If people organize and Nazis do not show up, the worst thing that's likely to happen is soup. Seattle antifa love some vegan soup, Lord knows why, but they do and they might dare to consume some in public. If people organize and Nazis do show up, they will be un-welcomed to the neighborhood. If people do not organize and Nazis do not show up, it would be a regular night on the hill, but the hill would miss out on soup. But if people do not organize and Nazis do show up, that would be unfortunate and serve to embolden white supremacists and fascists of all kinds. That last one sounds like it should probably be avoided, even if we must take the risk of public soup consumption in order to prevent it.
36
"The fascists of the future will be called anti-fascists"-Winston Churchill.

Freedom of speech is freedom of speech. Trump has the right to be an idiot and attack Mexicans, Bernie Sanders and his lemmings have the right to be idiots and attack the "evil 1%" and these Neonazi dirtbags have the right to play a neonazi dirtbag gig. As long as they are actually not committing violence, they have as much a right to go on as anyone else. The real fascists are the ones who would use force as opposed to a counter message to silence them.

A better move would be to make a big show about having someone with a background in race and anthropology and stuff to challenge them to a debate and prove them wrong...but the masks and "throw stuff at cops" crowd are too stupid for that.
37
collectivism_sucks, welcome back. I suppose. I was hoping you'd died.
38
Woody Allen on how to handle Nazis:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCb2Le3w…

Of course, you're being Seattle, you'd probably just have a retrospective showing of Luchino Visconti's La caduta degli dei

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtMocFKz…

39
@36

Welcome back! Glad you finally got out of your oppressive rental agreement. I'm sorry that your move Mississoklabama hasn't made you any smarter.
40
@36, pretty sure the anti-fascists showing up would defend to the death the skinheads' right to assemble in public. Anti-protest does not equal censorship.
41
@25: Trump, Carson, and Cruz are not the "mainstream" Republican candidates. That's why they're doing so well. Bush, Rubio, Fiorina, Christie, and Katich and the "mainstream" ones - that's why they're not winning. The mainstream of the GOP is not winning, the mainstream of the GOP is dissolving.
42
Last I checked democracy in Europe functions pretty well without having to kowtow to extremist definitions of freedom of speech and religion, giving excessive deference to Nazis and the KKK and religious thugs and grifters like Westboro Baptist or the Scientologists.

You don't actually have to let those assholes shit on you at their whim in order to have vibrant art and literature and a full spectrum of free political expression. Any more than you have to let every irresponsible jackass have a handgun and an assault rifle to prevent tyranny.

Americans just blindly swallow two centuries of self-serving propaganda that we do freedom and liberty better than everyone else, and we're too pigheaded to do a reality check.
44
"Surrendering free speech". Listen to yourself.
45
@ 21, I care and I'll be there. Frankly, this thread is an indicator of their ability/decision to feel comfortable spreading hate here. Denial, apathy and snark.... It's horrible, there have gay bashing and shootings on the hill, and yet some of us feel it's actually silly to counter protest fascists? How depressing. I'll be there. If it doesn't happen, I've "wasted" an hour of my life hanging out with people who believe in standing up against racist radicals.
46
@43 "well it still functions"

Does it? where is the political left, then?
47
@46 In the Oval Office and the Justice Dept. It's why police are scared for their lives more than ever and unable to do their jobs without being sued or sent to divershitty training.
48
robot ghost dear, if you think President Obama and the Justice Department are the "political left", you really need to get out more. Or at least stop saying things like that, for it makes you look really stupid and hopelessly naive.

President Obama is essentially what used to be called a "Rockefeller Republican". It's just that the Republican Party has gone down such a rabbit hole of idiocy and racism that there are no Rockefeller Republicans left. There's just scammers - the GOP politicians - and morons - the GOP voters.

Honestly, how do you get up and function throughout the day. Are you in some structured environment? Do you get a check from the government or something?
49
I really have to ask what the point of free speech extremism when what you have to show for it is one of the most ignorant populations in the world. If the press in Sweden or Germany isn't free, how come the people there are so clued in? Allowing Donald Trump to lie with impunity doesn't make us stronger or freer. If you want to make the case for coddling hate groups, you've got to show how much better off we are then those that draw a line on what nonsense they'll tolerate from lowlifes.
50
@49: Such a disposition is the epitome of arrogance. Just who is to be one that "draws the line"? I rather have the good, the bad, and the ugly, than the uniform misery of thought control.
51
All you nazi watchers, any sighting? Or were they too well camouflaged off-line?
52
@50 So, you wouldn't draw a line at Islamic extremists holding a bake sale in downtown Ballard? See, there is a line after all whether you like it or not.
53
@52: You are so wrong. No, if they were civil enough to be having a bake sale I would gladly buy a scone.
54
@54: After all, I would need something to go with my Americano after visiting the NRA espresso cart.
55
We've always drawn a line. Yet for some reason in America the line is drawn to enable the KKK and Christian hate groups. We don't have to draw the line there, any more than drawing a line between handguns and bazookas. The limits we choose are up to us.
56
@55: Yes, the line is drawn when a crime is committed by said party. If that's what you're saying then we're in agreement.
57
@36: Welcome back, collectivism_sucks! You're already off to a banner start, as the very first thing you posted upon returning was, in fact, a lie! PROTIP: Winston Churchill never actually said that. Good job.
Say, have you moved to Keksas yet? I sure have, and it's decidedly mediocre here.
58
@56

That's a tautology. There are lots of limits on free speech where the "crime" is the speech itself. Once again, we are pigheaded about this. The only reason tolerating Nazis and Klansmen is "necessary" for free speech is because Americans have been told so by other Americans so many times. It's a cop out that prevents critical thought.
59
Marcie, maybe it was that tweaker the cops plugged in Wedgewood this afternoon?
60
Hoax. Anti-fascists need fascist boogeymen to remain relevant. Too bad they don't understand there are more fascists on the left.
61
The fact that denying the Holocaust is a crime in Germany is actually one of the good things about that nation.
62
@58: When you say "tolerating Nazis and Klansman" I have to think how young you must be. Anyone a baby boomer and of an earlier generation remembers how the KKK back then really was - how lynchings of young black men from Magnolia trees was as ubiquitous as cyber crime now. Today the "KKK" is a historical legacy, replaced by like minded groups and self-radicalized individuals taking advantage of social media trying to resurrect a former glory and more.


However, I'm not downplaying them, I'm just amazed at the difference of historical perception.
63
@51: I haven't heard anything from my anarchisty friends, so probably nothing? There's still time for trouble, of course.
64
@41 - I'd argue that's even worse, wouldn't you? If the ascendant politicians of the American right wing are embracing similar positions to those held by the white supremacist movement, then no wonder neo-nazis feel empowered to march right through Seattle.

@51/63 - my housemate and another friend are in the neighborhood right now, and it sounds like this shit is actually happening.
65
#64, I will confirm your report of this actually happening. Twitter is getting requests from local African Americans for escorts just to run simple errands.
66
@62

The total number of lynchings in the US from 1950 to 1970 (there were 13) was less than the number of highly questionable, and known criminal, killings of minorities by police in 2015. That we know of.

But pour yourself another tall one and teach us some more about history. Yer a fount of knowledge.
68
@67

You know who else bans speech they don't like? The fucking United States. Obscenity. sedition, libel, official secrets, copyright, the list goes on. All kinds of different things, mostly accidents of history. The precise definition of what is and isn't allowed has varied from one generation to the next. Why? Because it's arbitrary, like the 55 mph speed limit.

You're pretending an arbitrary standard is some kind of sacrosanct principle. The stupidest line of bullshit Americans have always fed themselves.
69
Ph'nglui, you are wonderful. You, Venomlash, and Catalina are the only reasons to read Slog's comments.
70
I'm just ever so slightly confused. On December 4, SLOG posts about a white power rally that's happening on December 6. December 6 passes and there are no posts whatsoever about whether or not that white power rally actually happened. In fact, there is only one post all fucking weekend. Is SLOG actually dead and nobody told me? This shit is embarrassing. Oh wait, was there like a RuPaul drag race finale going on this weekend because that would excuse the lack of actual news.

71
This is cool:

The British Parliament could soon review a petition calling for U.S. presidential candidate and former reality TV star Donald Trump to be barred from entering the country on grounds that he has violated the U.K.’s laws against hateful and defamatory speech.

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/12/britons-…
72
@68: Of the things you enumerated in that list, are you saying that they're an infringement on speech? Other than sedition; obscenity is allowed per local governance (except with minors and animals of course), libel allows recourse for defamation, official secrets enable the government to operate - material that isn't classified is subject to the freedom of information act, copyrights enable people to get paid for their innovation.

The only way you're making any sense is that you are an anarchist.
73
Those who said it was a hoax were right. The really sad thing is, is that so many seem to be disappointed. There was a little violence tonight, but it appears to be the result of adrenaline that had to find alternative outlets.
74
So basically there was no neo-Nazi event, but those protesting the fake event got violent, destroyed some property and blocked a street to protest the Nazis (that did not exist) regardless.

Good job, everyone. Especially the media outlets like The Stranger that did everything they could to perpetuate the hoax.
75
"Property damage and grafitti" ... my god, alert the media, the anti-Nazi protesters bent a shrub!

If the goal of the Stormfront post was to raise awareness of the anti-fascist groups in Seattle, and to get them out in the street in a show of strength, it worked quite well.
76
@75: Can you give me your address so I can come break a couple windows? It's fine, I am doing it because neo-Nazis still exist. That makes it both legal and morally correct, right?
77
There didn't need to be a fascist rally for in Ballard. Because the KKK, neo-Nazi's and white supremacist movement have been fully integrated and mainstreamed into the modern Republican Party. The racist xenophobic mantle of the those movements now is represented by the presidential frontrunners of the Republican Party. They don't need secret societies.
78
Someone creates brilliant hoax of an impending fascist march. Gullible "anti-fascists" take the bait AND take their place terrorizing the neighborhood. You can't make this shit up.
79
Do the research it was no hoax. Posters were put up by white supremacists on capitol hill of their impending hate message rock groups performing in Ballard. The hammer skins threatened to take over the hill on their storefront website on the dates cited by the antifascist groups. They wanted to teach activists, gays, jews etc. a “lesson”. They had already beaten up homeless and gay people on the hill previously. They are thugs and bullies. The show of strength by antifascists was a smart thing to do. Check out Germany in the 20s and 30s. The nazis didn’t want people to do anything so they can continue their thuggish practices. #78 are you working for the white supremacists? You may as well be.
80
Correction: I meant stormfront not storefront but the two terms may not be mutually exclusive.
81
@72

Yes. We limit speech for all sorts of practical reasons, and none of them make you lose your shit. But you totally buy into this "defend to the death" the right of fuckheads to spout lies and hate speech and threats disguised as policy. Why not defend to the death the right of Americans to make and sell their own Mickey Mouse t-shirts? Because it's utterly arbitrary that Congress has decided to extend that copyright protection every time Disney's stuff is about to pass into the public domain. It's arbitrary that the FCC says without a license your radio station can't be more than 1 watt. Why not 2 watts? Why not defend to the death the right to broadcast at 2 watts? Or 5 watts?

We could move where we draw the line on what speech is acceptable and what is not. Where we draw the line today is not exactly the same as 10 years ago or 100 years ago. In 10 years it will have moved and some idiot will sit there and yelp that he will "defend to the death" everyone's right to be on this side of wherever that line happens to be. It's arbitrary, not a Natural Law.
82
@60: Did you notice the leading Republican candidate calling for a religious minority (which he's been accusing of hating America) to be banned from entering the country? There are fascists aplenty, no need for us to invent them.
83
@81: I think we'll have to find an office with a whiteboard.
84
@81: I am unsure if declaring that people should be allowed to think and express themselves only in ways you personally approve of is fighting fascism. Sounds pretty fascist.

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