‘Hitler was right’: Fascist protesters stormed city centre yesterday

Yesterday a group of political activists, National Action, rallied around Monument with banners supporting fascism, nationalism and Hitler.

When they marched in Liverpool in November, the mayor there said “they make the BNP look like Amnesty International”.

Now, National Action – a group of political activists who promote fascism and nationalism, as well as openly supporting Hitler with the banner “Hitler was right”, have been spotted in Newcastle.

Supporters surrounding the rally were seen using Nazi salutes, which was set up next to a table where Muslim’s were raising money for charity.

A photo, uploaded to Facebook on Saturday shows representatives of National Action with their identities hidden under masks holding a banner reading “refugees not welcome” and #HitlerWasRight.

In the foreground of the picture is a man giving a spine-chilling Nazi salute.

One comment on Facebook said the group started shouting at a Muslim family: “I couldn’t believe it, they started screaming at this Muslim family and the police had to pull them away.

“They set up right next to a table where Muslims were offering info about the Quran and selling t-shirts to raise money for a charity.”

National Action have a large web presence, as well as Tumblr account and a Twitter account, where they quote passages from Mein Kampf. They call themselves “white jihadists” and boast about fascism “hitting” the cities they march on and protest in.

As if enough parallels hadn’t already been drawn between National Action and yesteryear German’s Nazi party, they also have a memorable symbol, which echoes the Nazi swastika: an N and an A entwined with each other inside a circle, with the end of the ‘N’ forming a lightning bolt.

Their website also shows YouTube videos of marches in Liverpool and Nottingham, where the group brandish flags and banners with the logo on, with supporters all around.

Many part time officers at the Students’ Union spoke out against the rallies.

Safiya Robinson, Racial Equality Officer at NUSU, told The Tab: “I’m absolutely disgusted by the protest and the actions of the individuals involved. It’s fortunate that events like these are rare in a place like Newcastle, but the actions of the few that continue the oppression and marginalisation of some of the most vulnerable people in our communities mean that we still have a long way to go. Our SU strongly condemns behaviours and views such as these and support the work of two newly established societies in working against these toxic ideologies.”

Lucy Morgan, Gender Equalities Officer at NUSU, said: “The fact that these people were allowed to protest at the Monument is an absolute disgrace to Newcastle and its community. I hope anyone who is still labouring under the illusion that ‘racism doesn’t exist in 2016’ will see these pictures, change their mind and, most importantly, take action.

“In terms of what the student community is doing to battle anti-refugee rhetoric, I am aware that an amazing new society called STAR (Student Action for Refugees) has been set up, which campaigns for refugee’s rights and I am in awe at the vital work they are doing.”

Sam Westrop, Director of Stand for Peace, said “the emergence of National Action is undisguised racism and is an alarming development. There have been very few instances of far-right activism on university campuses but that seems to be changing”.