Chilling footage shows a group of masked neo-Nazis marching through historic black neighborhoods in Nashville on Saturday before raising their swastika flags at the State capitol.
Dozens of uniformed extremists descended on Tennessee throwing Hitler salutes as they marched in step down Nashville’s ‘Honky Tonk Highway’.
The group was unchallenged as they occupied a podium at the state capitol building for a show of strength, but were met with fury as they took their protest to the streets.
‘Show me your f***ing faces!’ one bystander screamed as they stomped past, ‘What are you ashamed of?’
‘You don’t belong here,’ one replied, ‘Go to your third-world country.’
The neo-Nazis went unchallenged as they hoisted their swastika flags above a podium at Tennessee’s state capitol
The group, thought to be ‘Blood and Tribe’ members threw Hitler salutes as they marched through Broadway in Nashville’s historic black district
Ordinary people were caught up in the drama as the extremists marched through downtown Nashville on Saturday afternoon
The marchers are thought to be members of the white supremacist ‘Blood Tribe’ organization that has mounted previous protests at the Wisconsin state capitol and outside Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
The group is an extreme white supremacist groups that espouse anti-Semitic, racist and homophobic views and parades in military-style clothing, often while heavily armed.
Based in Maine, it was founded by former US Marine turned tattoo artist Christopher Polhaus, who has been linked to the January 6 riots at the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC, in 2021.
It does not allow female or LGBT members and regard itself as a hardcore group that sees itself as ‘the only path to a white ethnostate’, and rejects white supremacists who call for softer ‘optics’, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
Last year it picketed drag shows in Wisconsin and Ohio, as well as arriving heavily armed at two Pride events in Toledo and Watertown, performing Hitler salutes and chanting ‘Us or the pedophiles’.
The group clashed with right-wing journalist and former Congressional candidate Laura Loomer during its protest at Orlando in September.
At one point, video showed one of the members tell Loomer she should be ‘thrown in an oven’ while also yelling slurs at her.
‘Very vitriolic and irrational behavior,’ the Jewish Trump loyalist tweeted.
‘But, it is moments like this that remind us that this is what free speech was created for. Speech you disagree with is also free speech.’
In November, around 20 members of the group halted outside a former synagogue in Wisconsin chanting ‘Israel is not our friend’ and ‘there will be blood’ as state police looked on.
Tennessee lawmaker Justin Jones was leaving an event honoring a Black sorority when he stumbled into the path of the marchers on Saturday afternoon.
Christopher ‘Hammer’ Pohlhaus (pictured center right) founded the neo-Nazi ‘Blood Tribe’
Tennessee lawmaker Justin Jones was among those expressing their outrage at the march
He said it was the second time in a matter of months that far-right groups had targeted the state capitol and blamed Republican lawmakers for fostering a culture of impunity.
‘They’re normalizing this, so that these types of extreme manifestations of white supremacy feel comfortable coming out into the streets,’ he added.
‘I didn’t want to run away and hide from it, because I think we have to let people know that this is our community, and that we’re not going to be intimidated.’
Democratic Rep Aftyn Behn agreed with the claim, tweeting: ‘These groups once relegated to the dark corners now feel empowered to spew their noxious ideology out in the open due to our state’s leadership refusing to condemn their speech and actions.’
Nashville vice mayor Angie Henderson shared Behn’s post on X and added: ‘That I even have to say this. NAZIS are NOT WELCOME in NASHVILLE.
‘In America everyone is free to demonstrate & to say what they want, so: SHAME ON YOU ALL!
‘Get your hateful, dangerous, fascist, nazi nonsense off our streets & off our beautiful Public Square.’
Ruwan Karu who confronted those on the Nashville march said he was determined to let them know that they are the minority.
‘Seeing Nazis rally in broad daylight on a lovely Saturday afternoon in downtown Nashville should make us all angry,’ he told The Daily Beast.
‘Families enjoying chicken and BBQ were subject to hate our grandparents fought against.’
But Republican House Majority Leader William Lamberth insisted he shared their concerns.
‘Go away Nazi thugs,’ he tweeted, ‘This is Tennessee and you are NOT welcome here.
‘Btw, why not show your faces so we can all see who you are? I would be willing to bet that none of you are from anywhere near here.’
Jewish Metro Councilmember Jacob Kupin told News 2 he received calls asking if he was okay after also seeing the march.
‘My response to them was kind of, sadly, ‘I’m almost used to it at this point’,’ he said.
The group clashed with right-wing journalist and former Congressional candidate Laura Loomer during a protest in Orlando in September
‘Over the summer, we experienced a number of instances where people dropped anti-Semitic literature on people’s doorsteps, and there was an incident where someone painted a swastika on buildings.’
The group ar thought to have left town in a U-Haul hire truck, and Republican Rep Jody Barrett described the march as a ‘made-for-clicks, fake clown show’.
‘These idiots are either paid performers or low IQ low-lifes who need to go back home to their mothers’ basements.
‘Either way they are worthy of all the ridicule and scorn we can muster.’
The Anti-Defamation League estimates there are at least 50 loosely affiliated white supremacist groups flooding the country with record amounts of racist propaganda, including fliers, banners, graffiti and laser projections.