Protesters Shut Down Fascist White-Supremacist Rallies in Tennessee

October 30, 2017 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us

On Saturday, October 28, “White Lives Matter” rallies were set to take place in two Tennessee cities, Shelbyville and Murfreesboro. The white supremacists, many of whom attended the Nazi rally in Charlottesville in August (where white supremacists attacked anti-fascist protestors and killed Heather Heyer), arrived in Shelbyville with helmets and shields. However, they were met by dozens of counter-protesters blasting music and speeches by MLK Jr. over a PA. Local media reported that the Nazis’ speeches were completely drowned out by the anti-racist protesters’ music and speeches.

The fascists had planned to start in Shelbyville and then travel 20 miles north to Murfreesboro. Approximately 1,000 counter-protesters had gathered prior to the Nazi rally in Murfreesboro, far outnumbering the white supremacists, forcing the white supremacists to cancel their rally. One of the leading white supremacists tweeted saying that Murfreesboro was a “lawsuit trap” as justification for canceling his Nuremburg rally (Nuremburg was a city in Germany where Hitler held Nazi rallies), claiming it was not worth the risk.

This is an important example of the people standing up to fascism and shutting it down. One protester told CNN, “What will I tell my daughters? ‘Mommy was too busy watching football to protest a Nazi takeover?’ Not me. Not in my state.” The group that organized the protest, Murfreesboro Loves, posted on Facebook Saturday night, “We will drive home the message that white supremacy is not welcome in Murfreesboro.”

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