Police recordings show response to violent Calif. "Nazi mega-rally"
SACRAMENTO -- Police dispatch recordings from the chaos at the California Capitol show the response to a clash between neo-Nazi demonstrators and counter-protesters.
CBS San Francisco reports officials are blaming the counter-protesters for instigating the violence that left 10 people hurt, including two who were critically injured. No arrests have been reported so far.
The Traditionalist Workers Party had scheduled and received a permit to protest at noon Sunday in front of the Capitol. 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.
In a post on their website TWP described the gathering as their "Thermopylae," in reference to the infamous Greek battle site where a small Spartan force stood up to a massive Persian army.
They claimed the purpose of their gathering was a "protest against globalization and in defense of the right to free expression."
The Bay Area Independent reports "members of the Traditionalist Workers Party, Golden State Skinheads, Blood & Honor, National Socialist Movement and Ku Klux Klan," had all planned to attend.
Anti-fascist groups have been preparing a counter-protest, which they say will aim to shut down the "Nazi mega-rally."
As police responded to the bloody stabbings and beatings of at least 10 people on the Capitol ground, dispatch recordings reveal guns were also a concern, reports CBS Sacramento.
RECORDING: A 242 broke between protesters. One of the subjects was armed with a gun...got into a silver SUV, possibly a Chevrolet."
A dispatcher alerted officers to be on the lookout
RECORDING: "... occupied by two male white adults. Shaved heads. Black shorts last seen heading south on 15th Street."
That was the second report of a gun at the protest. Police did not find the reported gunman, but a separate loaded gun was turned over to officers during the protest after it was found on Capitol grounds.
The protest grew so wild, officers city-wide ordered to respond only to priority calls.
RECORDING: "Attention all units: be advised the whole city is in Code 1 status. Repeating, the whole city is in Code 1 status."
The violence came as no surprise to former California Homeland Security deputy director Gary Winuk.
"Having worked in the field, you really see how many hate groups and anarchist groups are still active in America and right here in California," he said.
He believes the permit process for protests at the Capitol will see changes.
"The error should always be on the side of allowing people to having the ability to express themselves, but that can't spill over into violence, and you can't incite other people to violence," he said.