Rioters halt plans for Nazis to march
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TOLEDO, Ohio - A crowd that gathered to protest a planned march Saturday by a white supremacist group turned violent, throwing baseball-sized rocks at police and vandalizing vehicles and stores, including setting a bar on fire.
Mayor Jack Ford blamed the rioting on gang members taking advantage of a volatile situation. He declared a state of emergency and ordered all residents to stay off the sidewalks, but they were still allowed to drive in the city and businesses remained open. The Highway Patrol also was called in to help.
"It's exactly what they wanted," Ford said of the National Socialist Movement, which calls itself "America's Nazi Party." The group's march was called off because of the rioting.
An hour before the 8 p.m. curfew began, people strolled sidewalks in the neighborhood and sat on their porches. A carryout store next to a police substation did brisk business selling snacks, cigarettes and alcohol.
There were no obvious signs of the day's turmoil that ended about four hours after it began just before noon.
Police reported no problems after they swept through the neighborhood late in the afternoon.
Police officers in helicopters and cruisers and on foot, bicycles and horses continued to chase bands of rioters throughout the afternoon.
Officers wearing gas masks fired tear gas canisters and flash-bang devices designed to stun suspects, only to see the groups reappear nearby and resume throwing rocks and bottles.
About four hours after the disturbance began, police marched shoulder-to-shoulder, at least eight officers deep down tree-lined Mulberry Street, shouting at residents to stay inside. A crowd of several hundred retreated, then dispersed as the officers advanced.
"There's going to be problems. Some of you are going to get hurt when we go in to make arrests. This has a real potential for a lot of bloodshed," Police Chief Mike Navarre told a large group of officers before they moved in.
Scores of people were arrested on charges including assault, vandalism, failure to obey police and failure to disperse.