Standard Mischief

Here I’m actually trying to write the most sensational, yet technically still true headline can think of. Here’s what apparently happened: Those same Neo-Nazis who’s mere appearance in Toledo started a riot, marched the last weekend in Orlando, Florida. None of those Boneheads were arrested, the march was apparently peaceful. Counter-protesters apparently got into fights with other counter-protesters.

In case anyone else is keeping score, I’m giving the Neo-Nazis only half a point here, apparently they didn’t manage to induce a riot this time. Counter-protesters are still at zero.

I chewed out ABC news, over their coverage of the earlier Toledo riots, in the middle of this post here.

ABC actually didn’t do half bad this time, though I do note that they didn’t included their article in their RSS feed.

Headline: 17 Arrested at Florida Neo-Nazi Rally
Tagline: Violence Breaks Out, 17 Arrested at Neo-Nazi March in Predominantly Black Florida Neighborhood

The included photo appears to be a white Skinhead counter-protester getting dragged away by riot police. The article makes no mention of Skinheads at all.

The biggest Spin award goes to the Orlando Sentinel:

Headline: Neo-Nazis retreat early, swamped by critics, policeApril Hunt | Sentinel Staff Writer

More than 500 counterprotesters held back by 300 police officers drowned out the message of a neo-Nazi group that marched through Orlando’s historic black Parramore neighborhood Saturday.

Yep, “drowned out the message”. No bias here.

Twenty-two members of the National Socialist Movement, some wearing khaki uniforms with swastika armbands, finished their march with a rally outside the federal courthouse that could not be heard over the jeering crowd.The group shut down the rally 90 minutes early and left town.

Seventeen people were arrested, all of them from the crowd separated from the neo-Nazis by lines of police in riot gear.

Police and civic leaders expressed pride that the event ended without the violence some had feared.

“I’ve lived here since 1944, and I’ve never been more proud of Orlando, Orange County and Central Florida,” said former legislator Alzo J. Reddick, one of the organizers of the Be Cool campaign that urged residents to ignore the march and the rally.

Translation: we’re relieved that there was no riot.

There was no mention of those Skinheads in this article either.

The best coverage award (barely) goes to something called AXcess News.

…The march went on as planned through the Orlando neighborhood of Parramore, with about 500 spectators and counter-demonstrators following the group.Orlando police said most of those arrested were members of out-of-town anti-nazi groups. Police identified them as Skinheads Against Racial Prejudices and the Southeastern Anarchist Network, which made up 14 of those arrested….

So here’s what I can figure out. Some of the counter-protesters fought with each other. Some of those arrested were Skinheads. It’s possible that they were mistaken for Nazi Skinheads, hence the fighting, but for the record most Skinheads are not racist. You won’t hear that in the MSM though. They’re still getting mileage out of those ones on that “Trash TV” show who rioted, and smashed a chair into the nose of that totally unbiased, totally objective reporter whose name I can’t remember. (I’ll have to admit that some media prefix “Racist” in front of “Skinhead” as part of their style guide, but I’ve never seen anyone explain themselves.)

The reason AXcess News gets the best coverage award is because they explain a bit about the group Skinheads Against Racial Prejudices, although they fail to use their commonly used acronym, SHARP, nor do they link to any background information on Skinheads in general (Wikipedia).

Let me post this to counteract the misinformation campaigning by hate-mongering groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center. Again, most Skinheads aren’t automatically hate group members. I actually did make the acquaintance of some real Neo-Nazi Skinheads. About a half-dozen or so, and they lived in a group home in Rosslyn, Virginia at the time. Their unofficial leader was a African-American young lady nicknamed “Lefty”. No, I never did figure them out, and yea, they all had the very same MA-1 Flight Jackets and boots laced up exactly the same in some special way. I’ve met a lot of Skins, and these people were by far in the minority.