10 Stabbed, Beaten At Protest Outside California State Capitol

SACRAMENTO (CBS13/AP) - The latest on a protest outside the California State Capitol that turned violent on Sunday:

7 p.m. update:

Ten people were wounded - two of them with life-threatening injuries - on Sunday when counter-protesters clashed with members of a white nationalist group that planned to rally outside the California state Capitol building in Sacramento, authorities said.

California Highway Patrol Officer George Granada said about 30 members of the Traditionalist Worker Party were gathering for a rally around noon Sunday when they were met by about 400 counter-protesters and a fight broke out.

As people tried to leave the area, smaller fights broke out, Granada said.
Authorities were investigating what happened, but no arrests have been made.
The Capitol was on lockdown until protesters cleared the area.

Videos from the melee posted on social media showed mounted police officers dispersing a group of mostly young people, some with their faces covered, while some throw stones toward a man holding a stick and being shielded by police officers in riot gear.

Sacramento Fire Department spokesman Chris Harvey said nine men and one woman, ranging from 19 to 58 years old, were treated for stab wounds, cuts, scrapes and bruises. Of the injured, two were taken to the hospital with life-threatening stab wounds, Harvey said.

"There was a large number of people carrying sticks and rushing to either get into the melee or see what was going on," he said.

PHOTO GALLERY: Rally At California State Capitol Turns Violent

The victims were all present while a protest took place, said Sacramento Police spokesman Matt McPhail but he said it was still unclear whether and how they were involved.

The Traditionalist Workers Party had scheduled and received a permit to protest at noon Sunday in front of the Capitol. McPhail said a group showed up to demonstrate against them.

The Southern Poverty Law Center has described TWP as a group formed in 2015 as the political wing of the Traditionalist Youth Network, which aims to "indoctrinate high school and college students into white nationalism."

Matthew Heimbach, chairman of the Traditionalist Worker Party, told the Los Angeles Times that his group and the Golden State Skinheads organized the Sunday rally. Heimbach said that in the clash, one of their marchers had been stabbed in an artery and six of the counter-protesters had also been stabbed.

Vice chairman Matt Parrott, who was not present at the Sacramento rally, blamed "leftist radicals" for instigating the violence.

A message left at a phone number for the Traditionalist Worker Party was not immediately returned to The Associated Press.

A post recently uploaded to site of the Traditionalist Youth Network said TWP members planned to march in Sacramento to protest against globalization and in defense of their right to free expression. They said they expected to be outnumbered 10-to-1 by counter-protesters.

"We concluded that it was time to use this rally to make a statement about the precarious situation our race is in," the Traditionalist Youth Network statement said. "With our folk on the brink of becoming a disarmed, disengaged, and disenfranchised minority, the time to do something was yesterday!"

The clash Sunday follows a confrontation in March between Ku Klux Klan members and counter-protesters in Anaheim, California in which three people were stabbed.

2:45 p.m.

Authorities say at least seven people were hospitalized with stab wounds after a clash between members of right-wing groups and "anti-fascists" outside the California state Capitol building in Sacramento.

California Highway Patrol Officer George Granada says about 30 members of the Traditionalist Worker Party gathered at the capitol for a rally when they were met by about 400 counter-protesters and a fight broke out around noon Sunday.

Granada says the capitol is still on lockdown three hours after the fight broke out but that things have calmed down and only about 70 "anti-fascists" remain in the area.

2:20 p.m.

Matthew Heimbach, chairman of the Traditionalist Worker Party, tells the Los Angeles Times that his group and the Golden State Skinheads organized the Sunday rally.

Vice chairman Matt Parrott, who was not present at the Sacramento rally, says it was a peaceful march and blamed "leftist radicals" for instigating the violence. Heimbach says that in the clash, one of their marchers had been stabbed in an artery and six of the "anti-fascists" had also been stabbed.

A message left at a phone number for the Traditionalist Worker Party was not immediately returned to The Associated Press.

A post recently uploaded to site of the Traditionalist Youth Network says TWP members planned to march in Sacramento to protest against globalization and in defense of the right to free expression. They say they expected to be outnumbered 10-to-1 by counter-protesters.

Sacramento Fire Department spokesman Chris Harvey said emergency crews transported seven people who were stabbed, some critically wounded, and that many other people had cuts, scrapes and bruises.

Protesters at the California State Capitol have now cleared.

"There was a large number of people carrying sticks and rushing to either get into the melee or see what was going on," Harvey said.

California Highway Patrol officers managed to break up the large fight but some members of both groups remained in the area an hour after the fight first broke out, Harvey said.

The victims were all present while a protest took place, said Sacramento Police spokesman Matt McPhail.

He said it was still unclear whether and how they were involved.

The Traditionalist Workers Party had scheduled and received a permit to protest at noon Sunday in front of the Capitol. McPhail said a group showed up to demonstrate against them.

The Southern Poverty Law Center has described TWP as a group formed in 2015 as the political wing of the Traditionalist Youth Network, which aims to "indoctrinate high school and college students into white nationalism."

1:30 p.m.

Authorities are now saying that seven people have been transported after violence at a rally on State Capitol grounds Sunday afternoon.

The condition of the people injured is unclear.

The Sacramento Fire Department had previously said they were treating five people for critical stab wounds.

A large group of people remains at the scene.

12:54 p.m. update:

Authorities say multiple people were stabbed during a rally in front of the California State Capitol building on Sunday.

The Sacramento Fire Department says five people were transported with critical stab wounds. Others had cuts and bruises from fighting and were not transported.

A rally by the Traditionalist Worker Party was reportedly to take place on Sunday.

Crowds are currently being dispersed.