Alex Constantine - June 26, 2016
At least five people were stabbed in a riot that broke out at the state Capitol Sunday between more than 150 anarchists and “anti-fascist” protestors and about 25 neo-Nazis who had gotten permission to rally on the west steps, police said. Erasmo Martinez The Sacramento Bee
At least five people were stabbed in a riot that broke out at the state Capitol Sunday between more than 150 anarchists and “anti-fascist” protestors and about 25 neo-Nazis who had gotten permission to rally on the west steps, police said.
Dozens of police in safety gear and on horseback tried to control the mayhem. The stabbings involved victims on both sides, according to Sacramento Police Chief Sam Somers, who had officers in safety gear on scene to support CHP officers. “It’s a highly volatile situation,” Somers said. There have been other skinhead rallies at the Capitol, but “this time the the anarchists have taken a much more aggressive stance to wreak havoc on the city.”
Somers added, “regardless of the message it’s the skinhead’s first amendment right to free speech.” The Bee saw two young African American men who had been stabbed, one in the shoulder and the other in the right side, who were among at least three victims assisted by emergency fire crews and taken to local hospitals
The Black Hawks, more than 100 anti-fascist protesters in black, led a chant of of “racists go home” and drove a handful of Nazi protesters off the ground. Somers said he heard two skinheads left the area after being stabbed.