Czech Police may handle neo-Nazi march in Brno differently than Nový Bydžov (Czech Rep)

Yesterday Police President Petr Lessy told the Czech Press Agency that police are preparing massive security measures in relation to the announced 1 May meeting of the Workers' Youth (Dělnická mládež - DM) in Brno. Lessy emphasized that officers would be brought in to ensure order not only from South Moravia, but also from other regions.

The police president claims he intends to proceed so that the extremists understand that "things will not be rosy for them" in Brno. Lessy's claim comes less than a week after police cleared the way for neo-Nazis who were breaking the law to march through Nový Bydžov after using mounted officers to brutally disperse counter-demonstrators.

The police leadership is said to be displeased that the radicals have been regularly organizing 1 May events in the city rather frequently. "We do not want Brno to become a war zone, but we will not tolerate displays of substandard behavior," said Tomáš Kužel, the South Moravian Regional Police chief.

The DM is connected to the Workers' Social Justice Party (Dělnická strana sociální spravedlnosti - DSSS), whose predecessor was the recently dissolved Workers' Party (Dělnická strana - DS). The Supreme Administrative Court ended the DS activity because of its members' radical approaches.

Two years ago, the DS convened a 1 May demonstration in Brno. The court subsequently handed down suspended sentences and fines to their entire leadership for the radical statements made by its members at that event.

The DM has announced two events for 1 May of this year in the center of Brno. Local authorities did not grant permission for either of them. Court disputes over those events ended in a cassation complaint to the Supreme Administrative Court, which recently overturned the municipal decision that one of the events could not be held.

According to many nonprofit organizations, police totally failed during the most recent extremist event in Nový Bydžov. They did not manage to protect local Roma people and dispersed a peaceful counter-demonstration in a brutal way. Organizations such as the Czech Helsinki Committee and ROMEA say police took no action while extremists violated the law.

Romea

Hundreds attend peaceful rally to counter neo-Nazi event in Claremont (USA)

Hundreds of people attended a rally Saturday against hate. The Claremont for Peace rally was held at Memorial Park to counter a neo-Nazi rally by the National Socialist Movement. About 30 people attended the neo-Nazi rally, police said.

The neo-Nazi event was held at Foothill and Indian Hill boulevards.

The white supremacist demonstrators rallied for an hour and a half to oppose illegal-immigrant enrollment at the nearby Claremont Colleges.

Between 300 and 500 counterdemonstrators rallied nearby. Between 200 and 300 others held a separate peace rally in opposition to the white supremacists in a park four blocks away.

About 110 officers were deployed at the white supremacist rally. There were no arrests and no reported injuries or property damage.

In an email before the event, Claremont for Peace said it had called the rally "in the name of peace, celebrating social justice, love and intercultural understanding."

The group is an ad-hoc collective formed to create an organized response to the National Socialist Movement's hateful messages, the group stated.

Southern California Public Radio