(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — A neo-Nazi group comprising about two dozen people marched through Madison, Wis., on Saturday, where they carried swastika flags and shouted antisemitic chants at bystanders.
Members of the group wore red shirts with “Blood Tribe” written on the back, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) described the group as promoting “hardline white supremacist views” and openly targeting “Jews, ‘non-whites’ and the LGBTQ+ community.”
Several state and federal officials denounced the demonstration, including Wisconsin Gov. Tony Ever, who wrote that the sight of neo-Nazis “marching in our streets and neighborhoods and in the shadow of our state Capitol building … is truly revolting.”
“Let us be clear: Neo-Nazis, antisemitism and white supremacy have no home in Wisconsin,” Evers wrote. “We will not accept or normalize this rhetoric and hate.”
In a statement, University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin said the group marched from State Street Mall to the Capitol building.
“The presence of this hateful group in Madison is utterly repugnant,” she said. “I am horrified to see these symbols here in Madison.”
Mnookin added that the march was not announced to campus officials ahead of time but was being monitored by law enforcement. The university said it will provide support resources to affected students and staff.
Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said the Madison Police Department was monitoring the group and “was prepared to intervene if needed.” She accused the group of trying to “normalize hatred, racism and antisemitism.”
Earlier this month, the ADL said it had documented a “dramatic surge in antisemitic incidents in the U.S.” since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.
“In the one-month period between Oct. 7 and Nov. 7, 2023, the ADL Center on Extremism documented 832 antisemitic incidents of assault, vandalism and harassment across the U.S.,” the organization wrote in a press release. “This represents a 316% increase from the 200 incidents reported during the same period in 2022.”
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