Leftists in Grand Rapids “Out” Local Nazi

There’s one thing about extremist political groups in the US that I’ve never been able to figure out. Considering how increasingly right wing this country has become, why is it that extreme leftists are for the most part tolerated, but extreme right-wingers are subjected to all sorts of harassment when they appear in public? Rallies held by socialist and anarchist groups are for the most part tolerated by the general public. But when the neo-Nazis hold a march, all hell breaks loose. And look at what recently went down in Michigan. A bunch of lefties discovered the address of a local Nazi activist. They proceeded to hold an impromptu protest in front of his house, holding up a banner reading “Nazis Not Welcome”. Some of them banged on his front door and demanded that he come out. They also passed out flyers to his neighbors informing then of the man’s political affiliations. Not surprisingly, the subject of the protest remained inside his home with a gun in his hand until the police showed up and ran off the leftists. Some of those same leftists later took part in beating up some white power people at a neo-Nazi rally held in Lansing, Michigan a few days later.

Can you imagine what would happen if a bunch of Nazis showed up at some anarchist crash pad and threatened the people inside? I’m sure arrests would have been made. And if some fascists went to a peaceful socialist rally and beat the crap out of some of the attendees? We’d still be hearing about in the media. In many ways, the white supremacists are the last true bad guys in out country, the ones no one sticks up for. And admittedly, they are a bunch of creepy, potentially violent individuals. But I would argue that when it comes to completely mindless violence, the anarchists have the Nazis beat at this point. And the fact that such tactics can effectively silence any political group in the US, no matter how repugnant, does not speak well for our first amendment rights as a nation.