The events of the day cannot be noted as any sort of success for the Nazis. The rally did not go very well, in fact, it did not even went going, strictly speaking, for the whole blasted thing broke down in scuffles and was stopped several streets away from the rallying point.
There were counter-protesters aplenty, many ordinary townsfolk, and quite a few were activists, some from abroad. That was not a surprise, as every Antifa chapter in the Nordics and environs had mobilised in advance. Thus, had the Nazis been abandoned to fend for themselves, it would have gotten ugly, and they could very well have been butchered, like is often the case in this city. Not that they ever seem to be very grateful nor kind towards their guardian angels in riot-gear.
The thing is, the Nazis had been assigned a route and told to stick to it. The police had cordoned that particular street (and surrounding neighbourhoods), in preparation. Then, before they could begin the march proper, the Nazis stormed a police line in order to break through and march on a different path. Why they did so is unclear. Some claim they were hit by stones from nearby counter-protesters, others that they did not plan to obey the police on the matter at all.
Well, long story shortened, they were surrounded by the police on the lawn outside a service centre, and the disruptive members (including Mr. Simon Lindberg, leader of the movement) were detained. The march did not continue from there, and they were eventually ferried off so that they could begin the return-march to where they started from. Quite embarrasing, all together.
There were also scuffles between the police and groups of counter-protesters; these were attempting to break past police lines and make contact with the Nazis. The most violent (and pictured) scuffles were of this nature, when activists tried to force a way into the area in which the Nazis had been corraled, partly because the police were attempting to expand that area further.
What I find quite uplifting is that this has been a rather ordinary early autumn Saturday, in many respects. The weather was fantastic, a last hurrah of the fading summer, and I believe many people (including me) decided to do their damndest to make the most of it, disturbances or not. Indeed, the city amusement park (which was effectively just across the street from the main area of disturbances) remained open as usual throughout, only temporarily closing their main entrance when the fight between the police and the counter-protest activists broke out. While it was not exactly a surprise that activists would come rolling in to put a stop to the Nazi's plans, it is reassuring that so many perfectly ordinary citizens decided to turn up en-masse to tell the Nazis, in no uncertain terms, to bugger off.
I had a surprisingly lovely day, in fact. Once it became clear that were was nothing further to contribute (unless I would like to join in and throw stones at the police for not allowing me to get inside the Nazi play-pen, which I do not care to do), and my display of displeasure was no longer required, I went to the pub and had a few drinks in the sun instead. I was not the only one who did so. Indeed, with all the events and circumstance of the day, it felt more like an odd carneval, at times. Particularly when the Clowns Against Nazism (proper clowns, not DF-clowns, I fear) went past.
Hats off, in particular, for the police. They did an excellent work, both in responding to a situation slipping out of their hands and ensuring it did not go uglier than it had. A worse police response could easily have caused a riot proper. Not particularly fun job, mind, but they did it well.
That sounds a bit like 'hey, if we kill all jews, there'd be no nazis'
Come on, please don't equate genocide with being an opponent of immigration.
Quite... That comparison is rather unwieldy. A severe problem is not made less so simply because it gives the Nazis a powerful whine-vector. The immigration policies and their results the last decade or so have been a hideous shamble, and even if it is a well-whipped Nazi hobby-horse, it is no less true because of it. But, being idiot enough to throw one's lot with the Nazis for the sake of steering up the failed migration is of course rather like burning down one's house to sort out the damp, now that we speak in comparisons.
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Topic: The friendly and polite Europe related terrible jokes thread (Read 1002200 times)