Neo-Nazi rally in front of Statehouse ends early (USA)

Authorities said four people were arrested but there were no major incidents at a poorly attended rally held by a neo-Nazi group in front of the Statehouse on Saturday.

The approximately 50 members of the National Socialist Movement group were shouted down at times by 300 counterprotesters. The scheduled four-hour rally ended after only 90 minutes.

State Police Sgt. Stephen Jones said one of arrests was made after a tire iron was used to break a window at a Bank of America.

Jones said troopers also charged two others with fireworks possession and failure to follow an officer's instructions. Trenton police also made an arrest on an outstanding warrant.

There was a strong police presence, with protesters and counterprotesters kept far apart from each other. Jones said there were "hundreds" of officers equipped with riot gear from state, federal, municipal and county law enforcement agencies.

The State Police incurred no overtime because schedules were flexed to include rally security into regular workweeks, Jones said.

National Socialist Movement members made speeches criticizing various government policies, focusing mostly on immigration and foreign affairs. Core beliefs include "defending the rights of white people," according to the group's website.

Counterprotesters focused on what they say is the National Socialist Movement's hate message.

Some returned the message. Daryle Lamont Jenkins, head of One People's Project, which monitors activity of alleged racist groups, shredded a Nazi flag and stomped on the remains.

"This group, generally speaking, is irrelevant," said Jenkins, a former Somerset County resident who now lives in Philadelphia. "Hating black people and hating society is the least of their problems, because when you really get at it, you find they hate themselves."

The event was held in chilly temperatures with increasing rain showers. Trenton resident Bryan Williams held a sign that said it was raining because "God don't like Nazis."

Daily Record

DETECTIVES PROBE NAZI WAR CRIMES (UK)

Scotland Yard has launched an investigation into new allegations that a Nazi war criminal is living in Britain.

Detectives are looking into claims about an elderly suspect. If they find enough evidence, the alleged war criminal will be arrested and interviewed despite his advancing years.

Many of the SS officers responsible for atrocities at death camps in Germany and Poland during the Second World War have now died or are in their 90s.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “Inquiries are ongoing in relation to allegations of offences committed in Europe during the war.

“At this stage we have not identified specific offences and as no one has been arrested we are not prepared to discuss the identity of the individual involved or where they live.”

The Express

Mosque attack angers Montreal Muslim group (Canada)

The Muslim Council of Montreal (MCM) is calling for harsher penalties and zero tolerance for hate crimes in the wake of an attack last week on a Dorval mosque.

“It is indeed distressing that in a pluralistic and multicultural society such as ours, we have religious institutions being targeted again and again in crimes of hate and violence,” Salam Elmenyawi, president of MCM, said on Saturday. “These attacks go against the very Canadian values and principles that we are all committed to and must be condemned in the strongest terms.”

Elmenyawi’s comments follow an overnight break-in last Monday at a mosque at the corner of Neptune Blvd. and Nightingale Ave. in Dorval.

The intruders broke in through a fire exit door and stole a computer and fired steel bolts through a couple of windows.

In 2009, the mosque was vandalized four times, usually with graffiti painted on walls. The last time it was vandalized was in September 2009.

The mosque has about 2,000 members and has been operating since 1994.

Montreal Gazette

Arrests follow Halifax opposing protests (UK)

Fourteen people have been arrested following two rival demonstrations in a West Yorkshire town centre.

Officers said the protests in Halifax by the English Defence League (EDL) and the Muslim Defence League mostly passed peacefully with minimal disruption.

Police said the arrests were made for minor public order offences.

About 150 people gathered in the Bull Green area for the EDL protest while about 50 took part in the other demonstration in Park Ward.

West Yorkshire Police said about 200 officers were deployed to the events.

A spokesman said that during the EDL demonstration one man was taken ill and refused to be taken to hospital by ambulance. It was thought he had recovered and left the area without giving any details to officers.

Acting Supt Martin Lister said: "Our officers enjoyed a tremendous response to today's operation from the local public which ensured that today's demonstrations could both pass peacefully without disorder, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank residents and businesses of Halifax for this."

BBC News