Over the weekend, planned protests by neo-Nazi groups in Toledo, Ohio were met with pre-emptive rioting by the mostly black community. As police assembled before the group of 14-24 white supremacist demonstrators could begin, members of the community began throwing rocks at the police, and then proceeded to loot stores and set buildings ablaze in the neighborhood.

Let me first say that I think the local residents were completely justified in disturbing the protest -- if such a group of bigots descended on my neighborhood with the blessing and protection of the government, I would make it as expensive as possible for the government to aid these bigots in insulting me and my community. The taboo in America on using any form of violence ever is absolutely ridiculous, granted that the police protecting these racists would not have hesitated at all to crack skulls if anyone raised their voice or got too close. Of course I think the state should grant the KKK and neo-Nazi groups the same first amendment rights as everyone else -- meaning the police shouldn't obstruct the racist demonstrators -- but if the racists intend to peddle hate and ignorance and bigotry, people have no obligation to allow them to spread that filth in their neighborhoods. There is a big difference between hateful, ignorant, racist speech that at very least implicitly advocates violence against minorities on the one hand, and opposition or support of a war, policy issues, or other common causes of protests on the other hand. People can pretend that all speech is equal, but words do have meaning, and blind, ignorant hatred deserves to be rebutted (by people acting freely, not by police), forcefully if necessary.

What the situation degenerated into, though, was just another example of just anger becoming wanton violence and rioting. Of course I don't defend the looting and arson that took place, especially because the looters targeted local businesses who were in no way associated with the neo-Nazi demonstrators. However, the issue is not as simple as "all good" or "all bad". Part of the violence that occurred was, in my opinion, just and necessary to show the hateful bigots that they were not welcome. Insisting that we respect hateful, violent groups like neo-Nazis is foolish and nothing more than an absurd extension of the politically correct idea that everyone deserves the right to express their hateful, violent ideas. If someone marches through a neighborhood of African Americans, preaching hatred against minorities, they should have the snot kicked out of them. The remaining (and majority of) violence that occurred, on the other hand, was criminal, unnecessary and unjustifiable.

As many people have pointed out, it probably did more to help the neo-Nazi cause than the demonstration ever would have, since it portrayed blacks as violent, antisocial criminals. This is unfortunate, and in retrospect things would have been better if violence was avoided completely, since the people of Toledo showed themselves incapable of limiting their use of force to the obstruction of hatred and racism.

I guess it makes me a "radical" that I think people have the right to oppose evil in their neighborhoods with force, but if you set aside pie-in-the-sky ideals of nonviolence, the reality is that anyone preaching blind hatred on the sidewalks of innocent, good people in an attempt to intimidate them deserves a knee to the face. People have the right to defend themselves personally against extreme intimidation (i.e. burning crosses, spewing racist epithets, etc.) since such hateful intimidation is a form of violence.

Now lets not have anyone who fails to understand the subtlety of what I'm saying come at me saying that I'm breaking libertarian principles of non-aggression or implicitly advocating violence against anti-war protestors or something. First you have to understand the distinction between bigoted hate speech and other forms of protest. Also, I'm not even necessarily saying that beating these people to a pulp is the morally right thing to do, I'm just saying that I understand the response and I respect anyone who responds similarly.

Honestly, who doesn't want to stomp on a KKK member's head?

P.S. Why is it that there are virtually two police for every peaceful protestor at anitwar protests, and these protests are always relegated to "free speech zones" far from anyone, and neo-Nazis are allowed to protest in the middle of a black neighborhood? Also, why do police beat, shoot with rubber bullets, and illegally imprison peaceful protestors all the time (as in NYC during the RNC, in Seattle and Miami) but are incapable of protecting people's property when a racist protest goes awry? Seems strange, doesn't it?