Nazi Group Rallies on U.S. Battlefield
Members of a group calling itself America’s Nazi Party waved flags bearing swastikas and shouted “Sieg Heil” on a national battlefield Saturday, while about 500 counter-demonstrators rallied on a field nearby.
About 150 members of the National Socialist Movement and their supporters gathered at the Yorktown Battlefield to honor George Washington and other founding fathers who they say held separatist and anti-Semitic views -- an assertion disputed by most scholars.
Many wore Nazi uniforms with swastika armbands, while others identified themselves as members of the Ku Klux Klan or various skinhead groups.
“This is sacred ground,” said Jeff Schoep of Minneapolis, commander of the National Socialist Movement, which bills itself as the largest Nazi party in the United States.
The counter-demonstrators, who came from as far as New Jersey and Pennsylvania, gathered about 250 yards away. One group, Anti-Racist Action, marched in carrying a pink and red banner with black lettering that said “Smash racism now.”
The groups were separated by iron fences. Police said no one was arrested.
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