(en) Canada, LinchPin #16 - a publication of common cause* - Racist march shut down in London LONDON ANTI-FASCISTS

On March 24 2012 in the city of London, Ontario, neo-nazis from all over the province 
attempted to gather for a rally at City Hall for the expressed purpose of re-establishing 
a Blood and Honour chapter in Eastern Canada. A similar rally was held in Edmonton to 
celebrate so-called ?white pride.? ---- Blood and Honour is an organization with chapters 
all over the world. Wherever the group has established a foothold, it holds a track record 
of extreme violence towards immigrants, queer communities and local left-wing organizers. 
In Canada there are active chapters in Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver, and in these 
cities Blood and Honour members have been involved in numerous violent attacks. -- Several 
of their members have been arrested and convicted of crimes ranging from assault to murder.

London has long been a hub for
fascist organizing. The last cause Emma
Goldman was involved in before her death
was an attempt to prevent the deportation
of an Italian immigrant to fascist Italy in
1939 for his anti-fascist and anti-racist
organizing in London. Thus, although
London has been known as a far-right
centre in Eastern Canada, local community
members have also long been organizing
against the fascists and racists.

More recently, militant anti-racist
organizing has largely been associated
with the Anti-Racist Action Network,
or ARA. In London the formation of
a local ARA chapter was the response
to the establishment of a few neo-nazi
groups in the city during the late 90s, the
proclamation of a European Pride parade
by the London mayor (who rejected the
Gay Pride parade) and a spate of violent
attacks on minorities.

In its first incarnation, ARA London
was a strong group of 20 active members
who could be found in local bars in
which neo-nazis would attack people.
Using various tactics, the ARA local
was responsible for disbanding most of
the hate-based groups in London, letting
them know that even if elected officials
and police would not stand up to hatred,
residents of the local community would.

Over the last few years, however,
there has been a slight resurgence of neo-
nazi activity in London. This push has
included open call-outs for boneheads

to move back to London and help
re-establish the city as a base for far-
right organizing in Ontario. Although
organizers have called several rallies
and attempted to organize events,
attendance hasnever materialized.

The first of these recent efforts
was an attempt to heckle and attack
the London Gay Pride parade, in
2010. When the boneheads got
word that regional anarchists and local
community members had mobilized to
confront them, they hastily canceled their
plans. While at present there is no regional
organizing body akin to ARA to speak of,
anarchists and other anti-fascists have
frequently shown themselves to be ready
and willing to mobilize and confront the
racists as the need arises.

In March 2011, through an article in
the London Free Press (LFP), anarchists
in London got news of a thirty-strong
Combat 18 rally set to take place at
City Hall. Despite having just a day to
mobilize, local anarchists managed to
amass around forty people to confront
the neo-nazis. On the day of the proposed
rally, only two prominent boneheads
showed up, carrying anti-fluoridation
signs. Seeing how massively the neo-
nazis were outnumbered, the LFP asked,
incredulously, why we had gathered such
an overwhelming force ? perhaps ignorant
of the fact that it was their reporting that
had provided the impetus for us to do so.

At noon on Saturday March 24, about
100 anarchists and anti-racist activists
converged on Victoria Park in downtown
London to confront the rally Blood and
Honour had called. Once the group had
assembled, it marched out of Victoria Park
and to the supposed rally-point (Wellington
and York) to shut Blood and Honour down
before they had a chance to show their
faces. Upon arrival the neo-nazis were
nowhere to be seen - but luckily the police
inadvertently revealed their position after
they chased and detained one of the anti-
racist scouts close to an underground
parking garage connected to Citi Plaza (a
downtown mall/office building complex).
Immediately following the arrest both
exits were blocked off by contingents of
anti-racists while a smaller group headed
into the garage to confront the boneheads.
After a brief scuffle initiated by a Blood
and Honour member, a car containing
Max Heinz (the local bonehead ?leader?)
and four other neo-nazis attempted to
retreat out of the garage, but not before
the vehicle and it?s occupants received
a thorough thrashing from the awaiting
anti-fascists. The garage was then laid to
seige for two hours while police protected
the remaining white supremacists within
? until they fled with their tails between
their legs.

Although the action was a success
in confronting and shutting down Blood
and Honour?s planned rally, should they
decide to pop their heads back up in the
future, engaging in a broader campaign of
community mobilization as part of efforts
to confront them will be necessary in the
long term. By more broadly mobilizing
community groups and members to stand
alongside militant anti-racists, we will
clearly demonstrate to far-right groups
that they are not welcome in our city.

In the weeks following the rally,
there was a large outcry from local liberal
activists complaining about our violations
of the neo-nazis? right to freedom of
speech and assembly. However, this action
was never about free speech; it was about
the safety of the socially marginalized
individuals that Blood and Honour will
inevitably attack if they are able to gain
a foothold in London and are allowed to
operate freely. These same liberal critics
have been largely silent in the past few
weeks, as news of assaults on immigrants
in Edmonton and murders (carried out
with the assistance of police) in Poland
have surfaced and spread through social
media. These attacks ? attributed to
members of more established Blood and
Honour chapters ? offer salient examples
of what these people are capable of, if
given the chance to exert their ?rights?.

As anarchists and concerned
community members, it is important to
use direct action to shut down their rallies,
their organizing and recruitment efforts
before they become an active threat.
Stand up, fight back!
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* Anarchist organization