Members of a pro-white group called the South Africa Project protest violence in South Africa against whites, during a demonstration at the Capitol, Sacramento, Calif., Monday, Feb. 27, 2012. A clash erupted between law enforcement officers and members of the Occupy Movement as the authorities were escorting the group to a parking garage following their protest. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Occupy Sacramento clashes with pro-white group

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – At least two law enforcement officers were injured Monday during a clash with members of the Occupy movement who were at the state Capitol to counter a rally by a group protesting violence by blacks against whites in South Africa.

The clash erupted in the afternoon as California Highway Patrol and Sacramento police officers were escorting about 35 members of the South Africa Project to a parking garage following their protest outside the Capitol building.

About 50 members of Occupy Oakland began throwing cans and bottles at the South Africa group and at the officers. The Occupy members then clashed with the officers as people with the pro-whites group hurried into the parking garage.

“It was the activists across the street engaging the officers,” said CHP officer Sean Kennedy.

Two officers suffered minor injuries and were taken to a hospital. CHP Capt. Andy Menard said one officer who was struck in the face by an object was released from the hospital. The second officer was getting X-rays after apprehending a person suspected of throwing objects, Menard said.

The CHP arrested three Occupy members on suspicion of disobeying an officer.

The violence abated after a large contingent of law enforcement arrived at the scene, about a block from the Capitol.

The clash followed a tense afternoon during which peace officers kept the two groups separated outside the Capitol.

Members of the South Africa Project were trying to draw attention to what they said is black-on-white violence in that country. Organizers said similar demonstrations were planned in other states and elsewhere in California.

The group was mostly male and white, some with shaved heads and prominent tattoos.

Many of the Occupy protesters, some wearing hoods or masks, said they came from the San Francisco Bay area to counter what they called a racist group affiliated with former Louisiana Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.

Occupy protesters had been cursing at the South Africa Project rally and at officers keeping the two sides apart.

Ryan Stark, 26, who said he is part of Occupy Sacramento, said he joined the protesters challenging the South Africa Project protesters because there needed to be a showdown.

“I didn’t throw anything … but these sorts of demonstrations need to happen,” he said, referring to the counter protest. “They do have the right to say what they want, but we’re not going to let it fly.”

The public was being kept away from the scene of the confrontation by police officers, who were not commenting to reporters. The city’s light rail system was stopped through the section of downtown where the clash occurred, and commuters were not allowed to leave the area.

Earlier in the day, a 17-year-old girl with Occupy Oakland was taken to Juvenile Hall after she became combative and assaulted an officer who asked her to pick up litter, Kennedy said.

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An Occupy protester is taken into custody by a California HIghway Patrol Officer, following a clash between Occupy members and a pro-white group at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Monday, Feb. 27, 2012. The clash erupted in the afternoon as California Highway Patrol and Sacramento city police officers were escorting members of a group called the South Africa Project to a parking garage following their protest outside the Capitol. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Occupy group confronts pro-white rally at state Capitol

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A teenage girl was detained Monday outside the Capitol after police separated Occupy protesters from a group opposing black-on-white violence in South Africa.

The girl with Occupy Oakland was taken to Juvenile Hall after she became combative and assaulted an officer who asked her to pick up litter, California Highway Patrol Officer Sean Kennedy said. He did not have her age or city of residence.

“It’s a free country and we’re here to protect everyone’s rights,” Kennedy said.

The confrontation was the type of shouting match that officers deal with when opposing groups rally at the Capitol, he added.

There were no other arrests despite shouting and sign-waving between competing protesters who were separated by about two-dozen officers on foot and horseback.

Activists with the Occupy group cursed at peace officers and about 40 mostly white men who were at the Capitol to draw attention to what they say is white genocide.

Organizers for the South Africa Project said similar demonstrations were planned in other states and throughout California.

“There is white genocide going on in South Africa. It’s a government-backed genocide,” said Kyle Krieger, a spokesman for the South Africa Project.

His comments were echoed by other men, some with shaved heads and prominent tattoos.

Occupy protesters, some wearing hoods or masks, said they came from the San Francisco Bay area to counter what they called a racist group affiliated with former Louisiana Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.

Some in the Occupy crowd also had shaved heads or mohawk haircuts and equally prominent tattoos, but a different message.

“The fascists came to town,” said Melvin Kelley, who was carrying a large Occupy Oakland sign.

He criticized police for separating the two groups. “With the police here, it always gets heated. (Police) don’t like us,” he said.

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Categories: Discrimination, Labor, Police Brutality, Racism, U.S. News, Workers Struggle