Neo-Nazis March To Protest Illegal Immigration, But Are Outnumbered By Protesters

Saturday, April 21st 2007, 9:24 pm

By: News On 6

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) _ A neo-Nazi group rallied at the Statehouse on Saturday to protest illegal immigration but was outnumbered by opponents and law enforcement officers in full SWAT gear.

Fewer than 100 members of the National Socialist Movement marched in the two-block parade and rallied on the north steps of the Statehouse where a statue of George Washington stands.

Members did the Nazi salute, yelled racial epithets and launched a diatribe against Jews during the 90-minute rally. The Minneapolis-based group also announced state leader John Bowles as a candidate for president.

Police reported no problems during the rally. One person was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct after he threw an egg, police Sgt. Florence McCants said.

Police then escorted the group out of town and up Interstate 26 for a few miles, McCants said.

Among the neo-Nazi group's opponents was a Southern heritage group with about a dozen members, one carrying a Confederate flag.

``While they may have a right to protest, we've got a right to protest them,'' said Larry Salley of the League of the South, which supports flying the Confederate flag at a Civil War monument on the Statehouse grounds.