As a result of the unrest in the US yesterday night as Unite Against Fascism members called for marchers to protest the presence of fascists and Nazi politicians in town, an ever-growing number of events have been cancelled, or postponed.
Meridian Hill Medical Center, and the affiliated Bellevue Health Systems pulled their contract with the American Nazi party.
Venue Chante Sheppard, who runs the larger Meridian Hill clinic, said that the KKK had already cancelled one of their events, and that ultimately, the biggest impact was likely to be the effect on the bigger group of socialist and communist activists, who were planning on making the peace march.
She said the decision to let the American Nazi party cancel their scheduled event was primarily because of the “drop in the social media traffic”.
“It’s a real shame that it’s reduced the number of leftwing people we have coming here, and even leaving this town as one.”
Then, with growing irritation, she continued: “In terms of cancelling the events, I’m perfectly fine with that, and I don’t regret my decision.”
Meridian Hill supporters of the Socialist Worker party and other socialist groups are to travel to Michigan tomorrow, and stage a candlelight vigil to say that the mainstream media is overlooking the growing threat of fascism in the USA.
They are calling on people to join them for a candlelit vigil at 6:30 at the corner of Scio and Lauderdale roads, where they are holding a public show of solidarity with the local revolutionaries on both sides of the bourgeois-fascist divide.
Pasco County has been the scene of almost daily demonstrations by anti-fascist and anti-racist protesters since last Thursday, when the murder of a woman named Jessica Heffelfinger in Texas brought racism to the front page of mainstream media again.
The county’s college of liberal arts has had progressive activist groups occupying a “safe space” on campus all week, as professors and students have protested against a proposed “Creative Space on Campus” funded by the Mercatus Center.
The community activist group, Ann Arbor People’s Defence League (AAPD), are among the groups that have occupied the space, and said they had no intention of moving, despite reports that the “creative space” is a proposal to join a charter school, which would allow campuses to operate as rightwing-dominated autonomous communities under local control.
“We take this action now because we believe this land belongs to all of us,” AAPL members said in a statement. “It will be turned over to private investors and schools if they want to segregate the students through race and economics, and arm them with weapons. Their plan is to teach our children to hate, without our knowledge or consent.”
AAPL members said that they will be outside the Mercatus Center when they open on Monday. They say they will also be chanting “No room for racists!” outside of the Dale Carnegie office on Monday, and holding a demonstration outside of the University’s Merrill campus.