Neo-Nazis Clash With Protesters

Police surround two members of the National Socialist Movement, of Michigan, as protesters, some in masks, yell taunts. The group said the march's purpose was to denounce illegal immigration and the two-party political system. (By Lois Raimondo -- The Washington Post)
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Alison Erkelaus, 30, a tourist from Norfolk, said neo-Nazi groups had a "twisted and perverted history" and that she was dismayed to see one rallying freely.

Members of the public were kept far from the marchers, who wound up on the West Lawn of the Capitol, where they waved flags and made speeches to an empty, sloping expanse of green, surrounded by hundreds of riot police.

One speaker railed against illegal immigrants and shouted, "White America, your option is with us." Another, introduced as radio host Hal Turner, said the group was "part of a much greater movement" that was "willing to play hardball" to fight illegal immigration. He warned that if Congress did not solve the problem, the movement would assemble in "minority areas" of U.S. cities and "clean house."

Periodically, hecklers watching from a distance shouted "racist pig" or vulgar slogans. But a far more powerful reproof came from a protester who played a tape of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech from the March on Washington in 1963.

"Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood," King's voice boomed across the Capitol.

Police officers in riot gear tried to keep stony faces as they listened to the dueling speeches. A teenager asked an African American police officer in riot gear how she felt about protecting the marchers.

"Everyone has the right to free speech," she replied politely. "It's in the Constitution."

Staff writer Theresa Vargas contributed to this report.