Dealing with nationalists

As libertarians we always argue that the best way to deal with the likes of the BNP (and other similar hard line organisations of left and right) is to give them a platform and let their own words condemn them. Whilst the BBC did rig the QT program that featured Nick Griffin it didn't need to, his performance was woeful and showed the BNP for what it is.

I have just been made aware of a similar case from the blogs of our (big) sister party in the US. The post is about the building of an Islamic Cultural Center near Ground Zero in New York and in defending the right to free speech the author gives the following example:

Another instance hit closer to home for me, literally, in my home town of Simi Valley, California. In 1991 Rodney King was videotaped being beaten by Los Angeles police. The subsequent trial of four police officers was moved to Simi Valley, where their 1992 acquittal sparked massive riots in Los Angeles which resulted in thousands of fires, a billion dollars in property damage, thousands of injuries, and 53 deaths.

After the riots, white supremacist Richard Barrett and his self-styled Nationalist Movement tried to cash in by announcing a march to the Simi Valley court house. Enraged Simi Valley residents demanded that the City Council block the march on the grounds that it might incite a violent response. My wife, Sandi Webb, was on the City Council at the time, and she published an article in the local paper identifying this demand as a “heckler’s veto” and a violation of free speech and assembly. She suggested instead that residents organize a counter-protest. The City Attorney (also a libertarian) warned the City Council that blocking Barrett would lead to a lawsuit and heavy monetary damages against the city.

After some dithering, the rest of the City Council followed Sandi’s lead and the City Attorney’s advice. Barrett and his pathetic handful of supporters twice paraded around the court house. Each time they were vastly outnumbered by hundreds of Simi Valley citizens expressing their loud opposition. Barrett normally made his living by shaking down those cities which prevented his demonstrations: He would sue them and (acting as his own lawyer) be awarded legal fees. But in the case of Simi Valley he left empty-handed and humiliated.

I commend the whole post which isn't that much longer than the section I quote.

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