So, there was a neo-Nazi rally in Los Angeles on April 18th. I went paparazzi style on my motorcycle, hoping to shoot some Nazis. I didn’t get many Nazis, but got lots of police and anarchists. Here are some of the photographs:

I arrived late, and this family was already leaving. I asked if I could take their picture.

Just as I got to Town Hall the Nazis were on the move, so the anarchists made a rush to the parking lot to try and cut them off.

I stayed back and shot around city hall…

… where I finally saw the Nazis.  There was a lot of space between the Nazis and the counter-protesters, a distance enforced by a police line.

I followed the Nazis toward their parking lot.

They were dressed in these terrible uniforms that made them look like extras from a Pink Floyd video.  One of them stepped out of the procession to wave a seig heil toward the public.

Here is a tighter crop. Sgt. Shultz lives!

Some of the public waved back.

I have never seen so many police ready to kick ass.  Asking around, I learned that I had missed some violence among the protesters.  A former prisoner had arrived shirtless to show of his Aryan Pride tattoos, and he was bloodied.  An atheist was also attacked when he attempted to equate Christianity with Nazism.

I ran ahead of the Nazis and caught up with the crowd that was waiting for their arrival at the parking lot.

A lot of people had really dressed up for the counter-protest.

Everyone was videotaping everyone. The counter-protesters were videotaping the police, to catch them doing something abusive. The police were videotaping the counter-protesters, for police reasons.

A lot of people covering their faces.

There weren’t many women officers on the front line, but there were a few.

The police and counter-protesters mostly looked past each other.

And then they arrived, each looking like a different racist stereotype from the movies.  Check out the beard on Santa Nazi.  At this point some of the protesters began to throw rocks and bottles toward the Nazis.  The woman rushing to the photographer is trying to push him back, out of throwing range.

Once the bottles and rocks began to fly, I was quite certain the whole show would end with tear gas, but the police line simply advanced, pushing the crowd farther from the Nazis.

Bean bag shot guns and tear gas.

I hopped up onto a wall to get a better view of the Nazis, but they were too far away.  Instead I was able to photograph the police line…

… and the crowd.

I dropped down from the wall and photographed the public from behind.  There really weren’t that many people.

Once the Nazis had left, the police lined up and marched away.  I ran into the void left by the police and photographed the crowd as it pressed forward chanting, “The Streets belong to the People!”

The counter-protest attracted a lot of different groups of people.  The anarchists really stood out (they were also the ones throwing rocks and bottles).

There were militant black youth standing guard.

And there were Jews, of this kind…

… and this kind.

There were also a lot of people that didn’t easily fit into any obvious group.  By the end of the demonstration, the whole crowd seemed quite pleased.  Protesting Nazis had really made their day.

I headed back to City Hall, where the police were returning to debrief.

They returned in lines.

Marching orderly.

Just like the protesters, the cops seemed pretty pleased with themselves.

Some final thoughts about the Nazi rally and counter-protest: The anarchists were definitely there to do violence to the Nazis. Most people were very non-confrontational with the cops (less so with the Nazis), but the anarchists were throwing bottles and rocks. I was impressed the police didn’t escalate the situation.  A number of anarchists were arrested, and at one point there was talk about storming the paddy wagons. When I was talking to the cops at the end of the day, one showed me his pant leg where he had been hit by an egg. He said that he had witnessed a lot of egg and vegetable throwing, which I missed.

The whole event felt like a very elaborate costume party where everybody got to play a role.

The Nazis got to dress like Nazis and scream hate messages at crowds of minorities, trying to bait them into fighting a ‘race war.’

The Anarchists got to run through the streets, throw rocks and bottles, and taunt police, and were in turn pushed around roughly by the cops.

There were Jews confronting Nazis.

The police got to intimidate people.

Everyone had their existential purpose validated.