Two groups clash in downtown protest

A demonstration organized by the Anti-Racist Action (ARA) group turned violent Saturday when members of the Aryan Guard began a demonstration of their own.

The ARA met outside of City Hall at 10 a.m. Saturday to commemorate the International Day to Eliminate Racial Discrimination, which is celebrated around the world every March 21st.

Around 3 p.m., a bus carrying members of the Aryan Guard arrived downtown, just as members of the ARA group were marching along Stephen Avenue.

The two groups clashed at 7th Avenue and 6th Street SW.

Items were thrown - one of CTV's camera operators was nearly hit with a soup can.

There were around 5-hundred people from both groups demonstrating which caused problems for transit service.

For the most part police just observed and built human walls between the two groups.

At least two people were treated for head injuries because of the projectiles being thrown. Three were arrested and police say charges are pending.

Both groups left the area around 4:30 p.m.

Comments are now closed for this story

DaveA
said

To all those who think we should get out of Afganistan now before the job is done--this is the exact thing our forces are in Afganistan trying to stop. If we get out now we will be fighting Afgans, backed by idiots like the Aryan group, in our own back yard. The Aryans are just losers who have no way to give anything to our society so they (in their little minds) are trying to destroy it.

Not in my backyard
said

Who granted the permit for these idiots to march anyway? I would have thought that even though there is "free speech", allowing a group to spread hatred is just wrong. They should have never been allowed to do this. This would have kept the peace, hands down.

Roger
said

lol, this video is so inaccurate. Those people at the beginning at city hall ARE NOT ARA. There are some ARA members, but most of those people are there on their own. And guess what, there were tons of injuries, not just two, but all the other ones were due to the police's brutal behavior. As usual, nice biased watered down version by the media. And there wouldn't be a protest if the cops didn't escort the nazi gang through calgary anyways, so who's fault is this???

BJ
said

It is hard to believe that people can't understand that even though we all "bleed red", we still bleed different colors. If the President can make an off the cuff comment about the special olympics does that not prove that even with all the education, the tv coverages, special programs, racism is never going to die out, it's in all of us in some form. I don't believe that walking the pavement proves anything or helps. There is no solution, only "control" and that is what the police were doing. It was embarrassing to see, and to be a Canadian yesterday. Shame on all involved.

Tono
said

Both of these groups are crazy.

The Aryan Guard are fascists, and ugly corruptors of European identity.

The Anti-Racism Action are ugly corruptors of Canadian identity, as they attempt to abolish the true identity of Canada's rightful demographics.

James from Edmonton
said

Aryan Guard forgot one thing that all races on all corner of earth came straight from adam and eve, meaning all races are human, so this group should be disbanded altogether.

Scott
said

There is no such thing as race. Genetically speaking, the further back in time we trace our ancestors, the more we realize how interrelated we really are. Racism exists everywhere in the world and is not just a N. American phenomenon. You'd think by now we would have socially developed beyond tribalism and fear of difference....

TM
said

The Arian Guard has just as much right to protest as the anti-racial group does. Allowing the anti-racial group to do their thing while not allowing the Arians is predudice is it not? Is that not the kettle calling the pot black.. Oh, am I even allowed to say "black" anymore??????

LS in Calgary
said

It is beyond me how groups like the aryan guard can hide behind "free speech", and Canadian laws still permit them to show up to PROMOTE hatred of people. This is not acceptable to the overwhelming majority of us.

D
said

all i have to say is the Aryan Guard should all be charged and tried for hate crimes. we live in the 21st century and it is still sick to see this crap still going on....

KGB
said

Thank god we live in a democracy is all I can say.

Mark
said

What this proves is that the only people with less brains than these Neo-Nazis are the Anarchists that are protesting them! The skinheads are obviously a group of people who feel marginalized for who knows what reason, but confronting them and drawing the media out only promotes their cause and draws others out the woodwork who might share the same views but never had an outlet to express them, it perpetuates their claim of being victims of canadian society. Let the police deal with them. I do wonder though where this anti racist group was when Hamas supporters were at the Harry Hays building screaming "Death to Israel" a few months ago? if you want to have the moral high ground, consistency is the key.

softballsoon
said

Angry that police allowed the AG to march? Actually, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms allows them to march, no single police service. We sure don't have to like groups such as the AG, but they have the same right to protection as you and I.

Oh, and why were members of the ARA already wearing scarves/ masks? Because they were prepping as they do so many times before...for a violent confrontation. People, check out the ARA...the AG is not the only one to resort to violence and thugary.

Sad
said

It's sad and disgusting to see yet again that there exist people whose main claim to fame is the color of their skin. After millions of years of life's struggle on Earth and contributions by people of all colors and our loving animals of every stripe and color, we have this bunch of useless and provocative excuses for human beings that are allowed to disrupt the lives of peace loving people. I was there in downtown 7th Av. yesterday (and saw the cancel transit due to a presumed electrical fire). Although I was inside when this sorry group of people marched down, I could see the disruption that they created. Canadians and the world should work harder to stamp out these evil menaces from our society.

Nancy
said

These racist groups are from the States. They have been trying for years to infiltrate Canada. Then they realized that Calgary was the best place to get a toehold because it was so conservative and white. They gathered a community via the internet before they sent some organizers to Calgary. This was reported by the CBC just over a year ago. So the problem is now very firmly established in Calgary and is likely to spread unless Calgary takes some firm but intelligent action. From reading story, I conclude that the city is not taking this problem seriously, and neither is the police.

David Zatko
said

"For the most part police just observed and built human walls between the two groups."

This statement is very untrue, there were many physical clashes between police and individuals, most of which involved police assaulting individuals with little or no reason. As well, many police officers turned a blind eye to the physical and aggressive actions of the aryan guard. As a media observer to this demonstration I was much more disturbed by the actions of the police then the general racism that was present in the rally.

Rob
said

Spring break here is in Calgary. Someone just can't wait.

twinchin
said

Racism has always existed in every way and always will. Scrap the sanctimonious bs.

Mark
said

quote:People were angry that the police were allowing the Aryan Guard to march downtown.
HUH?
While they are messed up in the head to still believe in what Hitler did, they have as much right to be there as the anti-racism group.Free speech is not just for the smart people...these idiots are entitled to it too.

Jo
said

I find it sad that these "anti-racist" people are the same people who will scream and scream about freedom of speech. But the second someone is saying something they don't agree with they want to shut them up.

I do not agree at all with what the Aryan group has to say, but if everyone else has the right to speak their minds so do they! Freedom of speech is for everyone, not just want you WANT to hear.

Stop being so hypocritical, let them speak their piece, nobody is forcing you to listen.

Racism is only an issue because you people make it an issue! You blow everything out of proportion, people like the Aryan's are in the minority.

I wish the news would stop reporting all these ridiculous protests, it only causes these people to do this crap more and more because they are getting the attention they crave while doing absolutely nothing to help the cause they claim they are protesting. Do something productive to support your cause, protests and ticking off the normal people in society is not the way to do it.

Anne
said

I think your reporter failed to mention that the projectiles that were being thrown were all coming from the "anti-racist" side. I personally counted being hit in the jaw with a fist sized rock, the back with a water bottle, and in the head with an unidentified metal trinket. I also witnessed one of the other reporters getting nailed in the head with a soup can. The police did what they had to in order to keep the "anti-racists" in line as they became completely out of control.

And the reason that the "White Pride" folks didn't show up until 3 PM was because we didn't plan to show up until 3 PM. Check the facebook event geinus.

Merle
said

These 2 groups did not just happen to meet up. The ARA was led down stephen ave to confront the Guard. The organizer of ARA said "lets take Stephen ave" and the ARA then proceeded to run over 5 blocks to find the Aryan Guard. It was a direct confrontation.
ARA should be responsible for all the costs.

bbb
said

censorship!

chris
said

Racism exists in every part of society. It is unacceptable, I agree. What I am tired of hearing is how white English speaking people are always the racists, and everyone else is only sticking to their own to protect their heritage. When will people open their eyes and see that every nationality has their racists, and leave the white English speaking people alone! I'm tired of seeing Caucasians being punished for what is rampant everywhere. The Aryan guard are the extreme. Lets look somewhere else to find the racists. You will find it in every culture from eastern Europe, to the furthest reaches of Asia, from Norway to south Africa. I'm tired of being called racist for not bending over backwards for someone who doesn't look or talk like me. Maybe I should protest too!

BC
said

They are just people with their own opinions. They have as much of a right to protest and speak their mind as any other lobby group.

Andrew
said

I'm glad that I love in a country that allows all people to voice their opinions, as well as use protest as a means to voice what they believe.

Jordan from Calgary
said

I'm all for equality and discouraging racism, but these demonstrations were just asking for trouble. When you put hundreds of people together with some of them with heated emotions, you can often get a "mob mentality". It's not surprising that things didn't stay peaceful all the way through.

What about everyone else downtown whose regular business was disrupted by the dispute? The Calgary Transit workers who had to drive special shuttles downtown and deal with disgruntled people all because of the disturbance? And people are giving the police flak, but they had to pull extra resources just to try to handle the massive crowds.

There are better methods to try to deal with racism. This demonstration displayed a lot of stupidity that wound up messing with general order downtown.

Dwayne
said

It occurs to me that this story makes me physically ill. Especially the mentioning of the school recruitment.

In this day and age, it's time we treat all people as equals, respect who they are and not promote the hatred we are seeing far too often.

It's time to grow up!! Stop teaching your children to hate and bully.

sean
said

Not hard to tell the city is starting to feel the impact of the recession. Picking on minorities happens whenever there's a need to blame somebody for your lot. Let's hope this doesn't intensify further.

Steve
said

There definitely wasn't nearly 500 people on the Aryan guard side. It was more in the ball park of 25-50

Jason
said

The number of people was a bit surprising to me when I was leaving the core this afternoon, though most at that point were pretty peaceful and obeying CPS when we ran into them around the Court Centre. The driver of the bus I was on said that he got held up earlier as the two groups were blocking bus traffic until CPS and Transit officers intervened. The CTrain was indeed down for another reason (a fire and short in an under street vault by 1st Street that knocked out the power), though shuttle buses were running to cover that disruption

Bob
said

To be honest, looking at the pictures of the protests on this and other websites, it seems that the people who were spoiling for a fight weren't the Aryan Guard lunatics, but the anti-racist protesters. The picture with this news articles clearly demonstrates this - anti-racist thugs with their faces hidden by bandanas carrying identical pink bags full of missiles. They didn't just happen upon the march by accident and spontaneously start throwing cans, they were prepared and waiting for disorder to take place.

All these anarchic thugs do is make life harder for the rest of us who are actually trying to promote cohesion. The ARA just give the Nazis the publicity they crave by turning 50 people walking down a street into a riot, with full-blown media coverage.

I sometimes wonder if the ARA are just agents provocateurs for the Aryan Guard.

Disgusted Calgarian
said

Aryan Guard go home!!
We all have the right to be proud of our race but NEVER at the expense of other races. This group is not about pride at all. It's all about hate. The Aryan Guard makes me ashamed to be white sometimes.

Dave Ruud, London, Ontario.
said

I'm on the side of Freedom of Speech, and I strongly believe the Aryan Guard had every right to express their views.

It just proves that not everyone agrees with the, politically correct, ideology of multiculturalism.

FA, Calgary
said

My observations....

1. In addition to Anti-Racist Action, there were several different social-justice minded groups there, as well as lots of people who were just there because they're concerned about racism and groups like the Aryan Guard in Calgary.

2. Most of the people I talked to already knew the Aryan Guard were going to go there before the day of the demonstration. For many, that fact highlighted to them the importance of having demonstrations against racism.

3. People were loud and upset, but the majority were generally peaceful.

4. The transit was shut down for other reasons, not because of the protest. Someone told me there was a fire? But it wasn't working long before the Aryan Guard showed up. I think that's why they didn't get there till 3 p.m.!

5. People were angry that the police were allowing the Aryan Guard to march downtown.

Frank from SASK
said

This kind of behavior only proves the that the human race is going totally for **** , after all these years can't people get along.we are all created equal with different views so respect the other views and move on. To end this we have alot of smart stupid people GROW UP.

Amanda
said

Why didn't you report the fact that the anti-racists outnumbered the Aryan Guard at least 10 to 1. And it seems like your reporting is trying to imply that the police were simply "keeping the peace". I beg to differ. I hope your future stories on this topic are more accurate.

Gordon
said

It was almost a police riot because there were too few of them to control the confrontation. This I assume caused the police to make poor decisions at times.

Why were the groups allowed to wander around downtown and provoke each other?

GG
said

It is hard to believe racism and hatred exists in Canadian society and that we tolerate it. I am all for free speech but there is a line that can be and should be drawn. Fortunately the vast majority of Canadians have 'evolved' past this level of caveman mentality

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