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Politi writes: "There was lots of anticipation in the small Georgia town of Newnan for what had been billed as the biggest gathering of neo-Nazis since Charlottesville last year that ended with one person dead."

National Socialist Movement leader Jeff Schoep (2nd R) speaks during a white nationalist rally in Newnan, Georgia on April 21, 2018. (photo: Bita Honarvar/Getty Images)
National Socialist Movement leader Jeff Schoep (2nd R) speaks during a white nationalist rally in Newnan, Georgia on April 21, 2018. (photo: Bita Honarvar/Getty Images)

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Neo-Nazi Counterprotesters Met by Aggressive Militarized Police Force in Georgia

By Daniel Politi, Slate

22 April 18

 

here was lots of anticipation in the small Georgia town of Newnan for what had been billed as the biggest gathering of neo-Nazis since Charlottesville last year that ended with one person dead. In the end, it was much ado about nothing as mere dozens of people showed up to celebrate Adolf Hitler�s birthday and they were far outnumbered by hundreds of counterprotesters. But the town got ready for the event with a massive militarized police presence and it seems the approximately 700 law enforcement officers who were on hand were eager to do something so they quickly turned attention to the people who had gathered to protest Nazis. At least 10 were arrested.

Illustrating the widespread concern about possible violence, an hour before the event began, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle tweeted that he was �praying for Newnan.�

Photos and video quickly spread on social media showing a very aggressive law enforcement force that targeted counterprotesters. Christopher Mathias of the Huffington Post wrote on Twitter that he witnessed �the most over-aggressive policing I�ve ever seen� as police tackled and arrested protesters �for wearing masks.� One shocking picture shows a cop pointing guns directly at the counterprotesters.

Jack Smith IV, a senior writer at Mic also posted video of police rushing into crowds and arresting a person �for wearing a red bandana on their face.�

Journalist Daniel Shular also posted a video showing arrests, including a point when an officer pointed his rifle at protesters and the press.

Mathias also posted a very telling photograph that shows how strange it is to see a town of 38,000 people with a police force that looks more like a military force than law enforcement for a small town.

Despite the arrests there were no injuries and police declared the operation a success. �I�m so proud of the community,� Newnan police chief Douglas �Buster� Meadows said, declaring he was �very relieved� there had been no violence. At least by the protesters.


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+16 # cecilepineda 2016-04-11 09:35
 
 
+2 # lorenbliss 2016-04-11 21:52
What we're seeing here is capitalism in action -- its innate, already murderous savagery intensified by the One Percent's genocidal "austerity" schemes.

Obviously these euphemistically titled death-inducemen t programs are performing exactly as our overlords intend, exterminating "surplus" workers -- i.e., those of us no longer exploitable for profit -- without the embarrassment of death camps.

Want absolute, incontrovertibl e proof?

Note how these studies -- which are the austerity programs' equivalents of Zyklon B efficiency reports -- generate no, say again NO, ameliorative efforts whatsoever.

Nor will there ever be such amelioration. The data merely assures the One Percenters that austerity is indeed killing us, that their workforce-liqui dation schemes are succeeding.

Were it otherwise -- were there any hope of amelioration -- the data here revealed would never be allowed into public knowledge.

Wake up, people. Recognize the only thing "exceptional" about today's version of "American exceptionalism" is its exceptional malevolence.
 
 
+1 # MidwestTom 2016-04-11 10:30
Al of the doctors want the BIG bucks that they cab only get in the big cities.
 
 
+17 # reiverpacific 2016-04-11 12:03
I'd be willing to bet that Universal Healthcare -INCLUDING regular doctor visits and home visits if too sick or immobile to attend an office or clinic, mental health treatment and stress in the workplace counseling, shorter work weeks longer paid holidays and childbirth support and time off - would turn this around in no time.
Just look at civilized nations if you don't believe me.
 
 
+10 # Billsy 2016-04-11 15:30
Right on. If it weren't for VA benefits I'd be left out in the cold. Their mental health services in San Francisco are excellent. One can't expect people under stress from financial insecurity and experiencing depression to exercise, diet, address their emotional problems and treat their resultant addictions without resources. Until we elect a govt. that serves people not for-profit corporations, this will only get worse. We see an alarming increase today in the number of people living on the street in our hood despite millions spent on services in this city. The chasm between wealth and poverty is breathtaking.
 
 
0 # lfeuille 2016-04-11 23:53
And higher wages.
 
 
# Guest 2016-04-11 12:12
This comment has been deleted by Administrator
 
 
+4 # lorenbliss 2016-04-11 23:23
No offense intended, but your bourgeois naivete is showing. The sort of diet you describe is utterly beyond the financial reach of low-income people.

In fact our only access to such a diet is growing it ourselves, which requires horticultural knowledge, physical strength and access to land suitable for subsistence agriculture. But if we have no such access, or if we're low income and physically disabled, or low-income, old and physically disabled (as I am), that option is forever denied us.

(This is one of the innumerable bitter, ultimately deadly truths of genuinely hopeless poverty -- truths which those who have never experienced such poverty remain unaware.)
 
 
+16 # Billsy 2016-04-11 12:50
Perhaps I missed it, but was there any mention in this article of the effect of depression on personal health? Given the large scale economic recession impacting rural and former manufacturing and mining areas it's small wonder people are despairing of any positive change. An article in the New Yorker detailed the history of a Kansas pain Doctor prosecuted for over prescribing narcotics. It basically concluded that with his clinic shuttered there was no treatment left for his former patients, many of whom were in serious need of mental health services to help overcome their suffering. We seriously need mental health treatment for the many Americans left behind by this economy and disenfranchised by a corrupt dysfunctional 2 party political system. This article is spot on in explaining the angry uninformed mob phenomenon behind Trump. I'm not surprised that a significant segment of our population is turning to addiction for relief.
 
 
+10 # tswhiskers 2016-04-11 15:03
I would like to highlight a few causes of early death. One would be stress. Stress not only causes hypertension, it also weaken the body overall. As the body continues under stress, the organs et al are weakened often to the point that diseases like cancer and heart disease become common. Add to this the fact that so many, esp. the poor, eat terrible diets, junk food, few vegetables, and food additives that are not even food even though they are allowed into manufactured food by the FDA. Sugar is a prime breeding ground for cancer and diabetes. There is more info on food now, but it's not getting thru to the people who need it most. Often these same people may know what to eat but can't afford to do so. I blame agribusiness and fast food for a lot of this as well as the economic lot of many Americans.
 
 
+1 # SusanT136 2016-04-12 05:54
Lack of gainful employment, lack of meaningful employment, splintering of communities (young people leaving), lack of cultural stimulation.... many people may be feeling depressed and hopeless. Enter drugs and alcohol. Lack of affordable healthy food? Enter obesity. Not good.
 
 
+1 # mdhome 2016-04-12 19:22
It surprises me that there is so much support for Trump in the areas where inequality is so high, why support a member of the 0.01% when there is a man of the people running, Bernie Sanders. Yes, universal health care would help this and better jobs, Trump hires the Chinese to make his clothing line and such dodads.
 

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