Thread: MN-Immigration protest brings out two sides

Immigration protest brings out two sides
By Mike Rose

Published Wednesday, June 3, 2009

A back-and-forth protest in front of the government center Wednesday afternoon had two sides of the immigration debate in a verbal sparring match.

Starting at 2 p.m. and ending around 4, the protest pitted people who want to crack down on illegal immigration against people who disagree with their message. In all, those organized filled most of the corner of Main Street and Second Avenue NE.

The protest was originally scheduled by Samuel Johnson, Austin resident and member of the National Socialists Movement, to rally against illegal immigration. To counter Johnson, a number of people came out with signs supporting human rights and decrying Nazism.

Johnson, along with friend and fellow NSM member Robert Hester, took turns talking into a microphone in front of the granite memorial on the center’s lawn. That prompted the opposing crowd, gathered near Main Street, to respond with a variety of chants, including a Barack Obama-inspired, “Yes we can.â€

Kind of funny that even the Socialists can't agree on this.

i couldnt help but to post

Robert Reimers, a recent Austin High School graduate in attendance, disagreed with Johnson’s message.
“They’re wrong. America was made of immigrants,â€