Neo-Nazis with swastika flags hold ‘disgusting and repugnant’ march in Madison, Wisc.
Neo-Nazi marchers descended on Madison, Wisc., for a twisted weekend rally, prompting swift condemnation from state and local pols and University of Wisconsin-Madison officials.
A group of approximately 20 people dressed in red and black and masks while waving large Nazi flags and making the Nazi salute made their way from State Street near the UW-Madison campus to the state capitol Saturday, cops said.
“The presence of swastika flags and other Nazi symbols in our midst, along with hateful white supremacist rhetoric, is disgusting and repugnant,” University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin said in a statement after the unannounced march.
“I condemn the actions of this small, hateful, fringe group that has no ties to our community. And in the strongest possible way, I condemn antisemitism and acts of hate,” she said.
The marchers traversed residential and commercial areas of the city before gathering at the capitol, where they lined up and loudly shouted slogans through a bullhorn while making Nazi salutes.
Madison Police said in a Facebook post that they were actively monitoring the group and that many people had called 911 to report them.
“The Madison Police Department does not support hateful rhetoric. The department has an obligation to protect First Amendment rights of all,” the agency said.
Videos and photos of the march were widely shared on social media. In a post on X, the organization StopAntisemitism said participants included members of a white supremacist group called “‘Blood Tribe.”
According to the Anti-Defamation League, among the hate organization’s goals is to “normalize the swastika, usher in a resurgence of Nazi ideas and ultimately build a white ethnostate occupied, controlled and led by ‘Aryans.’ “
The march drew strongly worded rebukes from both Gov. Tony Evers and Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway.
“Hate has no home in Madison, and we must not let it take root here,” Rhodes-Conway said in a post on X.
“Together, we can continue to build a strong community with strong democratic institutions that respect First Amendment rights, while embracing and valuing diversity,” the mayor wrote.
In a statement, Evers said the sight of neo-Nazis marching through Madison and in the shadow of the state capitol spreading hateful messages was “disturbing” and “truly revolting.
“Let us be clear: neo-Nazis, antisemitism, and white supremacy have no home in Wisconsin. We will not accept or normalize this rhetoric and hate,” Evers said. “It’s repulsive and disgusting, and I join Wisconsinites in condemning and denouncing their presence in our state in the strongest terms possible.”
The march occurred against the national backdrop of increasing calls for antisemitic violence, which have spiked dramatically since Israel began its military campaign against the Palestinian terror group Hamas in retaliation for the Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel that killed 1,200 Jews, mainly civilians.
