Aryan Nations to come to York, PA April 20...or will they?
YORK, PA-When August Kreis of Aryan Nations attended the World Church of the Creator's public meeting at Martin Library he was angry at how the town approached the event in regards to his white racialist comrades. To that end he decided to hold his own event in York on April 20, Adolf Hitler's birthday. The town however, annoyed with their reputation for racist activity, is attempting to block the event from taking place, and they may have a few things on their side which normally is not there when white supremacists come in and take a town hostage.

Kreis announced his intention to hold his event the Monday following the WCOTC meeting. His plan is to hold a rally in Penn Park, but upon his announcement, The city's Human Relations Commission booked the park in an effort to keep Aryan Nations out. This move may sound familiar to some people. It is the same proposal organizers for the One People's Rally submitted to Morristown, NJ when Dick Barrett announced his rally for July 4, 2000. Morristown officials decided to instead attempt to discourage, unsuccessfully from attending, and on the day even provided Barrett with electrical power-in the name of free speech. York, however seems prepared to fight their hatemonger. The major concern is both groups coming to Penn Park at the same time, one with a permit, and one without. That is also being prepared for.

Another factor in Kreis' event is his statement after the Jan. 12. meeting. Feeling that security at the meeting was lax because the organizers and attendees were white (!), Kreis declared the experience made him "a changed man no longer caring for ANYTHING non-white(!!)" Aside from the fact that we never thought he cared in the first place the part of his statement that is significant is his call to violence. "This is a suggestion I am making to all that attended this fiasco!" Kries wrote. "We can NOT allow ANYTHING like this to ever transpire again without leaving broken bodies of the enemy scattered EVERYWHERE!"

And who does he consider the enemy? Here is a passage that has been deleted from the statement on his website, but was already circulated wide before they did:

It became very apparent that the police were instructed to control the law abiding instead of the roving bans of savage Negro beasts and their ilk. We endured forced disarming, being provoked while anyone defending themselves would be arrested. We will not tolerate this, we will defend ourselves. We did not plan this meeting nor the security of it. For future events we shall plan our own security. The police did not arrest rioters, or those violators concealing their identity, or derelicts openly wielding weapons, none of them were arrested. However they forced us to break up outside of the barricades and go our own way through the mobs to reach our vehicles, we suffered no causalities. Being white is mind as well as race, only one cop escorted several individuals to their vehicles while the rest would not. Any white, whether police officer or not, that either overtly or covertly causes us harm or intends to cause us harm is also an enemy of the White Race. They should be dealt with as one deals with a nigger or any enemy of the White Race.

That is a threat, and if it is no longer on the site, Kreis may know it is a threat that will deny him his little show. On the other hand there are some York officials that are attempting to suggest that this kind of threat is within Kreis' First Amendment rights! That means Kreis may not only still come to York, but the possibility of a deadlier confrontation is greater.

And that is something that is not lost on the anti-racists who come to York last time.

The groups that clashed with Nazis on Jan. 12 vow to return on April 20, should things go as they currently are. Jan. 12 was a different scene than most rallies however. Where it was normally anti-racist activists that take on Nazis, this time around the normal anti-racist crew was joined by the citizenry of York. This will happen again, and some factions will be prepared should Kreis' plan of upping the ante is implemented. This is not lost on local law enforcement who have the worst time controlling the Jan. 12 factions. They are not saying how many officers they will need on hand for a Aryan Nations appearance, but they are preparing for it. Meanwhile, town officials are going to attempt to prevent the event from happening at all. On top of this, the WCOTC is vowing to return for another round of debauchery themselves.

York seems to have become a flashpoint for the racists, and anti-racists, regardless of how they approach the issue, say they do not intend to let them continue on this routine.