LCAN group threatens violence! NSM and Bill White Unafraid of Communist Threats

Bill White, spokesman for the National Socialist Movement, stands Tuesday beside a flier posted by the Lansing Coalition Against Nazis urging people to demonstrate against the neo-Nazi group this Saturday.

My advice to these morons would be to post bail before they head down.

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While city officials have decided to keep their distance from this Saturday’s neo-Nazi rally, others are planning to deal with the white supremacists up close and personal.

The Lansing Coalition Against Nazis plans to hold its own march and rally on April 22 in direct opposition to the National Socialist Movement, a Minneapolis-based neo-Nazi organization. LCAN organizers hope their presence at the rally will send a clear message to the neo-Nazis that they are unwelcome, while at the same time providing community members an alternative to the city’s plan to stay away.

“There aren’t a lot of other groups interested in a visible, vocal presence at the Capitol,” LCAN member Courtney Couvreur said. “But we think that it’s really important to let them know they’re not welcome and the hate they spew isn’t appropriate in Lansing.”

Bill White, spokesman for the National Socialist Movement, stands Tuesday beside a flier posted by the Lansing Coalition Against Nazis urging people to demonstrate against the neo-Nazi group this Saturday.

LCAN members plan to meet at Adado Riverfront Park at 12:30 p.m. before starting their two-block march to the Capitol.But that march could be illegal. Lansing police Lt. Bruce Ferguson said LCAN has not asked for a permit. Without a permit, counter-protesters will only be able to march on the sidewalks, not the streets, Ferguson said.
“I’m not sure they’re going to be allowed to get one,” Ferguson said.

They don’t want one, LCAN spokesman David Mitchell said Tuesday. He said the group plans to march in the streets without a permit.

“In the times that we have marched in the streets of Lansing without a permit, we have been able to so do,” Mitchell said. “We’d argue that to protest in our own city, we don’t need a permit.”

That could lead to a fight between police and counter-protesters — and if an incident that happened Tuesday is any indication, the fight has already begun.

A reporter was interviewing Lansing Police Capt. Ray Hall at the corner of Grand and Michigan avenues when an LCAN member told Hall and Police Chief Mark Alley, who was nearby, that there were Nazis at the Capitol. Alley and Hall proceeded to the Capitol to find NSM spokesman Bill White.

Alley and Hall, along with a third officer, formed a human shield around White to protect him from LCAN members while they escorted him back to his car, which was at a parking garage three blocks away.

During the walk back to the garage, protesters shouted profanities within inches of White’s face. At one point, a woman pushed Alley out of the way to get to White, prompting Hall to remove his handcuffs from his belt.

Police continued the protective stance until White safely drove off.
LCAN hopes to continue the disruption this Saturday. Once the counter-protesters arrive at their destination, they will create a “noise blockade,” Couvreur said. LCAN members are urging local residents to bring drums, trombones, cymbals, pots, pans and anything else to drown out the Nazis’ message.

LCAN members say they’re not worried about infringing on the neo-Nazis’ right to free speech — they say hate speech is not free speech. (COMMIE RED FUCKERS)
“You can’t just yell ‘fire’ in a public place — it’s dangerous and it promotes violence,” Couvreur said. “Free speech is protected to a degree. You can’t guarantee people aren’t going to react to it, and this is our reaction. We’re not saying they can’t gather, but these are the consequences of their gathering.”

NSM spokesman Bill White discredits the efforts of LCAN due to its affiliation with other local activist groups, including Direct Action. That organization was mentioned in an FBI document emerging from a January 2002 domestic terrorism symposium. “Obviously, as a legal and peaceful organization, the NSM has every right to be there,” White said. “We will not allow a violent terrorist organization to intimidate us or stop us from exercising our right to free speech.”

NSM leaders hope to draw at least 200 white supremacists to the rally, while LCAN hopes to match those numbers.
Couvreur said that the turnout from two recent community forums — March 16 at Foster Community Center and April 12 at MSU’s International Center — shows there is local interest in a counter-protest. She said she’s received responses from people as far away as Texas and Philadelphia who plan on attending LCAN’s rally.
An NSM rally in Toledo on Dec. 10 resulted in the arrests of 15 counter-protesters, including six from the Lansing area, while an Oct. 15 NSM march in Toledo erupted into a small riot causing $336,000 in damages and the arrest of 120 counter-protesters. No neo-Nazis were arrested in either incident.

The NSM and Toledo officials attributed the violence to black youth gangs, but LCAN members say police intimidation led to the riots.
LCAN representatives say that plans to construct a fence around the Capitol, as well as the city’s willingness to allow the Nazis at the diversity celebration, demonstrates a similar governmental attitude here as to the one in Toledo, which LCAN members say protected the neo-Nazis at the expense of the community.
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