Neo-Nazis marched unopposed on the Wisconsin capital on Saturday, waving swastika flags, giving Hitler salutes and leaving onlookers shaking in fear.
About two dozen members of the so-called “Blood Tribe” group stopped outside a former synagogue and chanted “Israel is not our friend” and “blood will be shed” as state police looked on.
With thousands in town for the Badgers game against Nebraska, the group carried their banners through downtown Madison, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus to Capitol Square.
“My stomach dropped, I was disgusted, I was furious, it was horrible,” said Jewish student Jordyn Grover.
‘I’ve never felt so disgusted in my life. I see all these people who just really want me dead.’
Nazi salutes in the streets of Wisconsin as the group marched through Madison on Saturday
The group proudly waved swastika flags as they marched past a Starbucks branch
Onlookers shook in fear as the group sang “there will be blood” in the streets
The march took place against the backdrop of the war between Israel and Hamas, which has sparked anti-Semitic incidents around the world and an unprecedented summer of neo-Nazi activity in the US.
Disneyland in Florida was picketed in July by a group waving a Nazi flag and chanting “Go back to Mexico,” while about a dozen neo-Nazis waved swastikas and hurled anti-Semitic epithets at those attending a service at the synagogue Chabad of Cobb County. , in East Cobb, Georgia.
“It is truly abhorrent to see neo-Nazis spreading their disturbing, hateful messages through our streets and neighborhoods and in the shadows of our State Capitol building,” Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers said.
“Let’s be clear: neo-Nazis, anti-Semitism and white supremacy have no home in Wisconsin.
“We will not accept or normalize this rhetoric and hatred.
“It is abhorrent and disgusting, and I join the people of Wisconsin in condemning and denouncing their presence in our state in the strongest possible terms.”
Saturday’s organizers consider themselves a hardcore group that rejects white supremacists calling for softer “optics,” according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).
The group rejects female or LGBT members and was founded by Christopher Pohlhaus, a former U.S. Marine turned tattoo artist who has been linked to the January 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol.
So far this year, they have staged drag shows in Wisconsin and Ohio, and arrived heavily armed at two Pride events in Toledo and Watertown, giving Hitler salutes and chanting “Us or the pedophiles.”
On Saturday in Madison, they stopped at the nation’s fourth-oldest surviving synagogue building, the Gates of Heaven, before discovering it was not in use.
Rabbi Bonnie Margulis of Faith Voices for Justice in Wisconsin said people living in marginalized communities are now feeling “very lonely and very isolated.”
“We live in very, very scary times,” she told the newspaper Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
“The American Jewish community is very scared right now, just like the Muslim community and the Sikh community, there is no place where we feel safe.”
‘Blood Tribe’ founder Christopher Pohlhaus at a meeting in Florida in September
Neo-Nazi groups are increasingly targeting power plants and sabotaging the country’s critical infrastructure in an attempt to destabilize society, a Ny Breaking.com investigation found earlier this year.
And the ADL estimates that at least 50 loosely affiliated white supremacist groups are flooding the country with record amounts of racist propaganda, including fliers, banners, graffiti and laser projections.
Stephanie Fryer of the Madison Police Department said officers were sent to monitor the incident, but the demonstration was lawful.
“Whether you believe this group is doing this or not, it is First Amendment rights,” she added.
