Neo-Nazis, Jews Face Off at Council Meeting

A scuffle between Jewish activists and members of a neo-Nazi organization erupted Friday at Los Angeles City Hall as the City Council prepared to honor the owners of a Torrance restaurant who had refused to serve patrons wearing swastika lapel pins.

The pushing and shoving incident, which spilled into the aisles of the ornate City Council chambers, was sparked by a shouting match between two members of the Nazi group, aided by a woman, and two members of militant Jewish organizations.

Los Angeles police officers, who regularly guard the council chambers, moved swiftly to subdue the combatants, and no one was injured in the fracas, which was over in less than a minute.

“It could have been a dangerous situation, but our officers took care of it very quickly,” said Councilwoman Joy Picus, who was addressing the council nearby when the fighting broke out behind her.

Irv Rubin, national chairman of the Jewish Defense League, and Mordechai Levy of the New York-based Jewish Defense Organization claimed that they were attacked by the neo-Nazis after the two sides had exchanged harsh words.

But Joe Fields, who identified himself as a member of the National Socialist American Workers Party, said that he and his colleagues were accosted first and that his shirt was ripped when Levy tried to grab a swastika pin that Fields was wearing.

Members of both groups were at City Hall to watch as the council honored Hans and Teri Potter, owners of the Alpine Village restaurant in Torrance. During an Oktoberfest celebration last year, the Potters refused to serve four men, including Fields, who refused to take off their swastika pins. When the men also refused to leave the restaurant, they were arrested.

The foursome, all of whom claim ties to white supremacist organizations, later sued the Potters with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Fields said he and another plaintiff, Stanley Witek, showed up at City Hall on Friday intending to protest the Potter resolution.

Witnesses said the fracas started following an exchange between the two sides as Picus was wrapping up her own presentation honoring the Reseda High School football team. As the name-calling escalated, a shoving match ensued, and Levy said he exchanged blows with one of his taunters.

Ron Butcher, a photographer for the City Council, said he stood nearby and watched as an unidentified woman accompanying Fields and Witek grabbed Levy’s yarmulke--a skullcap worn by some Jewish men--and flung it to the floor.

By then, LAPD Officers Tony Radovich and Ron Curry, the council sergeants-at-arms, had rushed over to separate the two factions and hurriedly escorted the parties out of the chambers. No arrests were made.

Afterward, Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky presented the Potter resolution without further incident.