At least seven people were injured in stabbings Sunday when neo-Nazi demonstrators and counter-protesters clashed outside the capitol building in Sacramento, California.
The Sacramento Fire Department described the situation as a "mass casualty event" -- meaning at least five people were injured. Calls about the incident came in just before noon local time, according to Public Information Officer Chris Harvey.
The seven stabbing victims were taken to local hospitals, some with critical injuries, Harvey said. Ages and genders of the injured were not immediately available.
Harvey said law enforcement and counter-protesters were anticipating a planned march by a local affiliate of The Traditionalist Worker Party. Officials describe TWP as a neo-Nazi group.
California Highway Patrol officers, mounted police and officers in riot gear were dispatched to the event where, Harvey said, "almost immediately a large fight started, and smaller incidents spun off of that."
The counter-protesters included various unrelated groups like Black Lives Matter, "ultra-leftist" groups and anti-fascist groups, Harvey said, citing reports from law enforcement.
Black Lives Matter of Sacramento could not immediately be reached to confirm its involvement.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit that tracks hate groups, described the TWP as a newly formed offshoot of the white nationalist American Freedom Party.
Among the goals of the TWP listed on its website are the preservation of European-American identity and opposition to "economic exploitation, federal tyranny, and anti-Christian degeneracy."
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
0 commentaires:
Enregistrer un commentaire