Advertisement

7 stabbed at California Capitol during clash between neo-Nazis, demonstrators

By Yvette C. Hammett and Shawn Price

SACRAMENTO, June 26 (UPI) -- At least seven people were stabbed, some critically, outside the California State Capitol building during clashes between neo-Nazis and demonstrators Sunday.

The Sacramento Fire Department confirmed the incident, which it described as a "mass casualty event." A public information officer for the department said on Twitter that at least five people were rushed to area hospitals, some of them in critical condition.

Advertisement

He described the injuries in the tweet as "critical trauma stab wounds."

Several others on the scene sustained cuts, scrapes and bruises but did not require hospitalization, fire department spokesman Chris Harvey said.

Up to eight people from the rally in good to critical conditions were being treated at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, according to hospital spokeswoman Karen Finney.

The Traditionalist Worker Party -- a group identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a white nationalist group -- was permitted to hold a noon rally, but were met by about 400 counter-protesters.

Advertisement

As about 30 people from the group arrived for the rally, the counter-protesters immediately moved toward them and fighting immediately started, said George Granada, public information officer for the California Highway Patrol's Capitol Protection Section.

"I don't think there was any verbal exchange, just full-on fight," he said.

The Capitol was placed on lockdown moments later. No arrests were made, Granada said.

"It was quite a bit of a melee," Harvey said.

Photos from the scene posted on social media showed blood on the sidewalk at the nearby park where violence broke out, the Los Angeles Times reported. Police in the photos were taping off the area.

Photos and video posted on social media showed fights between people wearing all black and other protesters, some carrying signs that read "anti-fascist," "Nazi scum" and "smash patriarchy + racism," The Guardian reported.

Early reports said that a neo-Nazi group had planned an event outside the Capitol for weeks and there had been an effort through social media to get people to protest against that group.

Frances Wang, a reporter for ABC10 in Sacramento, tweeted about the incident, saying some of those stabbed were being treated right at the park.

Advertisement

"Horrifying...Blood spatters all over the ground," Wang reported. "Police trying to control crowds."

Harvey said he didn't know which groups the stabbing victims were from.

He said victims were spread throughout the property surrounding the Capitol. Emergency responders were called to the scene about 11:45 am. By 12:45 p.m. police had dispersed the crowds and most protesters had left the area.

Latest Headlines