Joe.My.God. LGBT News
The Detroit News reports:
Police thwarted a plan by a neo-Nazi group to spark “Charlottesville 2.0” at a gay pride festival in downtown Detroit this weekend, police chief James Craig said Monday. Motor City Pride, an annual LGBT Pride street festival, was held Saturday and Sunday at Hart Plaza. Police had advance notice the Nazi group planned to protest the event.
Craig said the white supremacists had hoped to spark a riot that was worse than the Aug. 12, 2017, incident in Charlottesville, Virginia, in which a car was deliberately driven into a crowd of people who were protesting the Unite the Right rally, killing one and injuring 28. James Fields Jr., 20, was convicted in the killing and sentenced to life in prison.
“They wanted something even more substantive than Charlottesville,” Craig said following a press conference Monday at Public Safety Headquarters. “That’s according to credible intelligence we received.”
According to the police, the Nazis openly carried rifles and handguns, which is legal in Michigan.
to all my friends going to pride:
PLEASE be careful and aware of your surroundings. there was a group of neo nazis trying to get into detroit’s pride and they were also recording and shouting slurs at people coming in and out of pride. celebrate and have fun but also be safe ? pic.twitter.com/AFvqbcS4l0— chloe (@chIoelynn) June 8, 2019
“Police thwarted a plan by a neo-Nazi group to spark ‘Charlottesville No. 2’ at a gay pride festival in downtown Detroit this weekend, police chief James Craig said Monday.” https://t.co/SfgWfHmP4L
— Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) June 10, 2019
Nazis march in opposition to Pride parade in Detroit. The photo of the police with a rainbow heart attached to his uniform standing watch as a person with swastica arm band passes by is powerful. pic.twitter.com/AHMGIm5xwa
— katie rosman (@katierosman) June 9, 2019
Scary to see literal nazis at #MotorCityPride.
I recently visited Detroit & saw a progressive & proudly diverse city, one which helped elect Michigan’s first openly LGBT person to statewide office just last year.
These fascists don’t represent Detroit.pic.twitter.com/HR3qSjE8CV
— Cllr Eva Murray (@EvaCMurray) June 10, 2019