Neo-Nazis Return For Rally
The NSM were granted permission to rally at the Government Center in downtown Toledo on December 10, 2005. The Ohio State Highway Patrol was responsible for security at the Center. The stated purpose of the rally was to protest how the city dealt with the previous planned march. Approximately 45 people participated in the one-hour rally, separated from 170 observers and counter protesters by approximately 700 law-enforcement personnel. The assembled police forces - which included local, state, and federal officers - had at their disposal such ancillary support as mounted patrols, armored personnel carriers, and rooftop snipers. In addition, a last minute injunction was granted by Judge Thomas Osowick on December 9, barring public gatherings of any kind for the following two weeks.
Aggressive policing of the counter-protesters, which included the reported use of police Tasers, resulted in a total of 29 arrests. Three of those arrested were photojournalists covering the event. People entering the rally zone, including members of the media, were subject to searches, and police engaged in videotaping all persons near the rally site for what was termed as "intelligence gathering for future investigations." The majority of arrests occurred in the police controlled observation area; however, several people were arrested near public libraries for violating a court order banning unauthorized protests. Local attorneys and civil rights activists protested the unusually strict police tactics, summed up by one attorney: "What you have in Toledo is martial law for a day."
None of the neo-Nazi participants in the NSM rally were arrested, and they were escorted from the rally site in buses protected by police.
In retaliation, a local tattoo parlor that had allegedly been used as a base of operations for the NSM rally was vandalized later that night. The front window was smashed out with a rock marked with the anarchist circle "A" symbol. The owner of the parlor blamed the attack on a group called "The A Project"
Read more about this topic: 2005 Toledo Riot
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