Emergency Declared After Anti-Nazi Riots
By JOHN SEEWER
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) - A crowd protesting a white supremacists' march Saturday turned violent, throwing baseball-sized rocks at police, vandalizing vehicles and stores, and setting fire to a neighborhood bar, authorities said.
When Mayor Jack Ford and a local minister tried to calm the rioting, they were cursed for allowing the march, and Ford said a masked gang member threatened to shoot him.
At least 65 people were arrested and several police officers were injured before calm was restored about four hours later.
Ford blamed the rioting on gangs taking advantage of a volatile situation. He declared a state of emergency, set an 8 p.m. curfew through the weekend, and asked the Highway Patrol for help.
``It's exactly what they wanted,'' Ford said of the group that planned the march, which was canceled because of the rioting.
At least two dozen members of the National Socialist Movement, which calls itself ``America's Nazi Party,'' had gathered at a city park to march under police protection. Organizers said they were demonstrating against black gangs they said were harassing white residents.
The violence broke out about one-quarter of a mile away along the planned march route shortly before it was to begin. One group of men pounded on a convenience store, and others overturned vehicles. There was a report of a shooting but police hadn't found a victim, Police Chief Mike Navarre said.
About 150 police officers chased bands of young men through the area. Officers wearing gas masks fired tear gas canisters and flash-bang devices designed to stun suspects, but the groups continued throwing rocks and bottles. Several officers and firefighters suffered minor injuries, Navarre said. At one point, the crowd reached 600 people, officials said.
Finally, police marched shoulder-to-shoulder down the street shouting to people to stay inside, and the crowd of several hundred broke up.
At least 65 people were arrested on charges including assault, vandalism, failure to obey police and failure to disperse, Navarre said. He said the white supremacists had left hours earlier.
``We frankly could have made a couple hundred arrests easily,'' Navarre said. ``We just didn't have the resources on hand to arrest all of them.''
The mayor had appealed to residents the night before to ignore the march. He said the city wouldn't give the Nazi group a permit to march in the streets but couldn't stop them from walking on the sidewalks.
When the rioting began, Ford tried to negotiate with those involved, but ``they weren't interested in that.'' He said people in the crowd swore at him and wanted to know why he was protecting the Nazis.
They were mostly ``gang members who had real or imagined grievances and took it as an opportunity to speak in their own way,'' Ford said.
``I was chagrined that there were obvious mothers and children in the crowd with them,'' he said.
Thomas Frisch, 76, said a large group of men destroyed the exterior of a gas station next to his home of 30 years.
``A whole big gang started to come in here. Next thing you know, they're jumping on the car. Then they overturned it. Then they started on the building, breaking windows, ripping the bars off,'' he said.
Louis Ratajski, 86, and his nephew, Terry Rybczynski, left Jim & Lou's Bar as a crowd gathered in front pelting police with rocks and breaking the windows. They climbed down a fire escape from the apartment where Ratajski lived over the bar and only later saw the fire on television.
``I was shaking. I feared for my life.'' Rybczynski said.
Keith White, a black resident, criticized city officials for allowing the march in the first place.
``They let them come here and expect this not to happen?'' said White, 29.
A spokesman for the National Socialist Movement blamed police for losing control of the situation.
Violence in North Toledo after Nazi march canceled; mayor declares curfew
Mayor Jack Ford declared a state of emergency this afternoon following a violent uprising in North Toledo that erupted following an aborted march by a group of Nazis.
He issued a citywide curfew starting at 8 p.m. tonight, tomorrow, and possibly Monday.
Mr. Ford said those protesting were mainly male gang members in their 20s. He said the protests were not triggered by race relations but by gang members with grievances.
"We went to talk to them. Most of them were gang members in full colors," the mayor said. "Their anger was based on some long-standing things but also that we had allowed the [Nazi] walk to occur in the first place."
North Toledo descended into chaos for several hours this afternoon after angry crowds who turned out to protest a planned march by a small group of National Socialist Movement calling themselves "America’s Nazi Party" erupted into violence.
A mob of at least 500 people threw bricks and rocks at police and vehicles, looted a bar at Central and Mulberry and started it on fire, and overturned a car at a North Toledo gas station and burned it.
There were reports of minor injuries to police and numerous arrests.
The violence started around noon as police were getting ready to escort about 15 Nazis on a march that was supposed to start at Wilson Park and continue on Mulberry Street and Bronson and Dexter Avenues, ending up back at the park.
Because of the violence - which broke out along Stickney Avenue away from the Nazis gathered in the park - police cancelled the march and told the Nazis to leave, which they did.
The violence began dying down around 4:30 p.m., according to Lt.
Frank Ramirez of the Toledo Police Department. But Mr. Ramizez said it was touch-and-go for several hours, and he was concerned about possible violence tonight.
"Originally, it was just crowd control. Then it went out of control,"
he said. "We just had to scramble" to bring in more police officers to back up the already beefed up presence of 150 officers on hand for the Nazi march.
"It was a mob. Obviously, the unexpected happened," Mr. Ramirez said.
He estimated at least 60 percent of Toledo’s police force was on duty just in the North Toledo area because of the violence, and the Lucas County sheriff’s office also was on hand.
Toledo Police chief Mike Navarre praised his officers, saying they "performed remarkably" and showed a lot of restraint. Before sending in police in force to make arrests at around 3:30 p.m., Mayor Ford and Toledo Fire Department chief Mike Bell approached the mob and attempted to negotiate a compromise. But as they talked, and as the crowd yelled and screamed at them, looters broke into the bar at Central and Mulberry and began taking merchandise.
Mr. Bell eventually began walking back toward a large group of police shaking his head.
"No more negotiating," he said. "We’re done. They just set a building on fire."
Chief Navarre said there were upwards of several dozen arrests made but he did not have exact numbers. He added that some police officers and fire fighters were injured in the melee but their injuries were not serious.
The chief said police could have arrested hundreds of people who were involved in incidents of looting, burning businesses, and throwing rocks.
It's just sad to see that happen , because that is what the racists want to happen...
I can't believe that the mayor would allow the racists to march threw what some people around think as the "hood".. I guess It could have gotten alot worse..
By JOHN SEEWER
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) - A crowd protesting a white supremacists' march Saturday turned violent, throwing baseball-sized rocks at police, vandalizing vehicles and stores, and setting fire to a neighborhood bar, authorities said.
When Mayor Jack Ford and a local minister tried to calm the rioting, they were cursed for allowing the march, and Ford said a masked gang member threatened to shoot him.
At least 65 people were arrested and several police officers were injured before calm was restored about four hours later.
Ford blamed the rioting on gangs taking advantage of a volatile situation. He declared a state of emergency, set an 8 p.m. curfew through the weekend, and asked the Highway Patrol for help.
``It's exactly what they wanted,'' Ford said of the group that planned the march, which was canceled because of the rioting.
At least two dozen members of the National Socialist Movement, which calls itself ``America's Nazi Party,'' had gathered at a city park to march under police protection. Organizers said they were demonstrating against black gangs they said were harassing white residents.
The violence broke out about one-quarter of a mile away along the planned march route shortly before it was to begin. One group of men pounded on a convenience store, and others overturned vehicles. There was a report of a shooting but police hadn't found a victim, Police Chief Mike Navarre said.
About 150 police officers chased bands of young men through the area. Officers wearing gas masks fired tear gas canisters and flash-bang devices designed to stun suspects, but the groups continued throwing rocks and bottles. Several officers and firefighters suffered minor injuries, Navarre said. At one point, the crowd reached 600 people, officials said.
Finally, police marched shoulder-to-shoulder down the street shouting to people to stay inside, and the crowd of several hundred broke up.
At least 65 people were arrested on charges including assault, vandalism, failure to obey police and failure to disperse, Navarre said. He said the white supremacists had left hours earlier.
``We frankly could have made a couple hundred arrests easily,'' Navarre said. ``We just didn't have the resources on hand to arrest all of them.''
The mayor had appealed to residents the night before to ignore the march. He said the city wouldn't give the Nazi group a permit to march in the streets but couldn't stop them from walking on the sidewalks.
When the rioting began, Ford tried to negotiate with those involved, but ``they weren't interested in that.'' He said people in the crowd swore at him and wanted to know why he was protecting the Nazis.
They were mostly ``gang members who had real or imagined grievances and took it as an opportunity to speak in their own way,'' Ford said.
``I was chagrined that there were obvious mothers and children in the crowd with them,'' he said.
Thomas Frisch, 76, said a large group of men destroyed the exterior of a gas station next to his home of 30 years.
``A whole big gang started to come in here. Next thing you know, they're jumping on the car. Then they overturned it. Then they started on the building, breaking windows, ripping the bars off,'' he said.
Louis Ratajski, 86, and his nephew, Terry Rybczynski, left Jim & Lou's Bar as a crowd gathered in front pelting police with rocks and breaking the windows. They climbed down a fire escape from the apartment where Ratajski lived over the bar and only later saw the fire on television.
``I was shaking. I feared for my life.'' Rybczynski said.
Keith White, a black resident, criticized city officials for allowing the march in the first place.
``They let them come here and expect this not to happen?'' said White, 29.
A spokesman for the National Socialist Movement blamed police for losing control of the situation.
Violence in North Toledo after Nazi march canceled; mayor declares curfew
Mayor Jack Ford declared a state of emergency this afternoon following a violent uprising in North Toledo that erupted following an aborted march by a group of Nazis.
He issued a citywide curfew starting at 8 p.m. tonight, tomorrow, and possibly Monday.
Mr. Ford said those protesting were mainly male gang members in their 20s. He said the protests were not triggered by race relations but by gang members with grievances.
"We went to talk to them. Most of them were gang members in full colors," the mayor said. "Their anger was based on some long-standing things but also that we had allowed the [Nazi] walk to occur in the first place."
North Toledo descended into chaos for several hours this afternoon after angry crowds who turned out to protest a planned march by a small group of National Socialist Movement calling themselves "America’s Nazi Party" erupted into violence.
A mob of at least 500 people threw bricks and rocks at police and vehicles, looted a bar at Central and Mulberry and started it on fire, and overturned a car at a North Toledo gas station and burned it.
There were reports of minor injuries to police and numerous arrests.
The violence started around noon as police were getting ready to escort about 15 Nazis on a march that was supposed to start at Wilson Park and continue on Mulberry Street and Bronson and Dexter Avenues, ending up back at the park.
Because of the violence - which broke out along Stickney Avenue away from the Nazis gathered in the park - police cancelled the march and told the Nazis to leave, which they did.
The violence began dying down around 4:30 p.m., according to Lt.
Frank Ramirez of the Toledo Police Department. But Mr. Ramizez said it was touch-and-go for several hours, and he was concerned about possible violence tonight.
"Originally, it was just crowd control. Then it went out of control,"
he said. "We just had to scramble" to bring in more police officers to back up the already beefed up presence of 150 officers on hand for the Nazi march.
"It was a mob. Obviously, the unexpected happened," Mr. Ramirez said.
He estimated at least 60 percent of Toledo’s police force was on duty just in the North Toledo area because of the violence, and the Lucas County sheriff’s office also was on hand.
Toledo Police chief Mike Navarre praised his officers, saying they "performed remarkably" and showed a lot of restraint. Before sending in police in force to make arrests at around 3:30 p.m., Mayor Ford and Toledo Fire Department chief Mike Bell approached the mob and attempted to negotiate a compromise. But as they talked, and as the crowd yelled and screamed at them, looters broke into the bar at Central and Mulberry and began taking merchandise.
Mr. Bell eventually began walking back toward a large group of police shaking his head.
"No more negotiating," he said. "We’re done. They just set a building on fire."
Chief Navarre said there were upwards of several dozen arrests made but he did not have exact numbers. He added that some police officers and fire fighters were injured in the melee but their injuries were not serious.
The chief said police could have arrested hundreds of people who were involved in incidents of looting, burning businesses, and throwing rocks.
It's just sad to see that happen , because that is what the racists want to happen...
I can't believe that the mayor would allow the racists to march threw what some people around think as the "hood".. I guess It could have gotten alot worse..
