By Justin Blum
Washington Post
Aug. 25, 2002

WASHINGTON - Hundreds of neo-Nazis and White separatists marched on the U.S. Capitol on Saturday to protest American support of Israel, chanting, "What do we want? Jews out! When do we want it? Now!" and trading hostile words with an equal number of counterdemonstrators.

A variety of White supremacist groups carried giant Nazi flags and frequently pumped their arms in the air yelling, "Sieg Heil," as they marched in hazy, humid weather. They complained about non-European immigration to the United States, shredded an Israeli flag and chanted slogans in support of Palestinian independence.

The counterdemonstrators included students who said they had come to preach peace; militants chanting, "Death, death, death to the Nazis!"; and anarchists dressed in black. They were joined by a variety of others, including Palestinians who said they had come to reject the White separatists' support for Palestinian independence.

As many as 1,000 people demonstrated on each side, said Terry Gainer, chief of the U.S. Capitol Police.

Police said no injuries were reported.

Police said their tactic was to prevent the two groups from getting close enough to harm each other. They were separated by about 1,000 police officers, metal barriers and plastic fencing. Some officers marched in riot gear with batons drawn, others were on horseback and motorcycles. Police helicopters buzzed overhead.

Authorities said one man was arrested after he pried loose a large cobblestone from the sidewalk at Union Station and hurled it toward the White supremacists. The rock missed the demonstrators. Felipe Benjamin Findley, 23, of Chicago was charged with disorderly conduct/missile throwing and was released after paying a $50 fine, said Lt. Phil Beck of the U.S. Park Police.

The supremacists' chants were peppered with ethnic and racial slurs.

Both sides shouted obscenities and at times tried to charge police lines.

The march from Union Station to the Capitol was led by Billy Roper, deputy membership coordinator of the National Alliance, which calls itself a "pro-White group." Roper, who said he was protesting "the U.S. government's one-sided support for the terrorist government of Israel," described Saturday's rally as the largest gathering of "White nationalists" in Washington since World War II.

Paul Gellar, 42, of Lambertville, N.J., said he joined the protest because of concern about "the destiny of European Americans in the United States."

Counterdemonstrators said they were disgusted by seeing the groups march to the Capitol.

Preston Toombs, 50, of Little Rock was in Washington on Saturday for his job as a software engineer. When he heard about the demonstration, he stood in front of Union Station to show his opposition to the supremacists.

"I'm very angry and disappointed in these people," he said, motioning to the other side of a police line.

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