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Neo-Nazis, Black Lives Matter, And Progressive Groups Clash In New Haven

Demonstrators hold placards during a march by various groups, including

REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

Davis Richardson Freelance Writer
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Counter-protesters swarmed downtown New Haven to shout down a rally featuring libertarian speaker Augustus Invictus on Saturday morning. One has been hospitalized after getting pepper sprayed by authorities; at least three have been arrested.

“I saw three arrested. I heard there was a fourth,” said a protester requesting only to be identified as IV. “There are only two other people in the U.S. with my last name and they’re in their seventies. My pronouns are ‘they’ and ‘this’.”

The rally was organized by local white nationalist groups with ties to “Proud Boys,” a new political movement helmed in the U.S. by the Canadian Vice Media-cofounder Gavin McInnes. The group has attracted thousands of members and promotes “minimal government, maximum freedom, anti-political correctness, anti-racial guilt, pro-gun rights, anti-Drug War, closed borders, anti-masturbation, venerating entrepreneurs, venerating housewives, and reinstating a spirit of Western chauvinism during an age of globalism and multiculturalism,” according to their Facebook page.

Augustus Invictus (an alias which translates into “majestic unconquered sun” in Latin) is best known for controversial antics like sacrificing a goat and drinking its blood, along with running a failed campaign for Marco Rubio’s Senate seat in Florida as a Libertarian (which prompted the resignation of Florida’s Libertarian Party chairman Adrian Wyllie). He has openly advocated for eugenics and a civil war while attracting a following of mostly neo-Nazis and white nationalists.

“Ninety-nine percent of the things that seem weird in my life can be answered with my religion,” he told a reporter for Vice in 2015. “Paganism,” he added, “is mostly about nature-worship. It’s about being in harmony with your environment and bringing the world of spirit and world of man together. It’s about balance.”

Counter-protesters numbered about 150 and came from different groups such as Black Lives Matter, SURGE, and New Haven Uprising.

“All of you are going to go back to Clinton [Connecticut] and we’re going to be the ones cleaning up after you!” shouted a New Haven resident to the protesters. “I got paint on my brand new iPhone.”

The groups were last seen marching towards the New Haven police station on 1 Union Ave to demand the release of the arrested counter protesters.

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