On Saturday, September 3rd, from 2 to 4pm, the neo-Nazi organization NSM (National Socialist Movement) held a rally at the city hall in West Allis. The rally was named by the NSM “In Defense of White America Rally” and was to protest supposed race-charged violence against white people, such as the incident at the State Fair when a group of black youth attacked white people. West Allis mayor, Dan Devine, denounced the rally stating, “They take advantage of our Constitution despite the fact that everything they stand for is a contradiction to it,” reported the Journal Sentinel.
The NSM hoped for 50 to 100 supporters but there were only roughly 20 to 30 neo-Nazis and white supremacists in all. The counter-demonstrators outnumbered them almost 100 to 1 with news outlets estimating 2,000 counter-demonstrators in attendance.
The counter-demonstration started at 1 pm with speeches by different organizations. Most speeches focused on peace, love, and non-violence while some took a more confrontational and unforgiving tone.
Speaker Chance Zombor, of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, started his speech with, “First, let me say that Nazism is not, and should not, be thought of as an equally legitimate but different opinion from ours; it’s a death threat. Nazis are not socialists. Neo-Nazis are terrorists, Nazis are fascists, and fascism is synonymous with death camps and genocide.”

While the NSM had stated before that their rally was too merely to defend “white civil rights” and to bring attention to violence against whites, their speeches did not stuck to that agenda. The NSM repeatedly made remarks about Jews, unions, Blacks, and Hispanics. They referred to Blacks as animals and Mexicans, and other non-European immigrants, as invaders.
The group flew many different flags, including the confederate battle flag and flags with swastikas. They gave Nazi salutes and one member stated to a news crew that “I think this country needs 50 Adolf Hitlers, quite frankly: one for every state.”

Businesses had been concerned that there would be violence and rioting, so they shut down and a police presence of an estimated 200 riot police were deployed. Despite the concerns, the rally was peaceful with only a few heated incidents between a group of white supremacists and some of the counter-demonstrators. The police rushed in-between the two groups to keep them separated and to prevent any violence.