Nazis try starting fight with Occupiers

I went to the Occupy Cincinnati march today that dealt with the ravages of student debt. We had about 100 marchers, and it was a smashing success, as it wrapped around downtown - from Piatt Park to Fountain Square to Paul Brown Stadium to City Hall.

When we were on 2nd Street between Race and Elm overlooking the stadium though, we saw yet another assault against the Occupy movement.

As we were marching west on the south sidewalk of the street, a gang of young men was walking east. At first, I thought they were just drunken sports fans with no political interests, as all they did initially was flick our signs with their fingers and such. But then, when I thought they were gone, I heard them yelling behind us. I looked back and noticed one of them was removing his shirt as if he was about to fight. The enraged maniac charged towards us with his fists clenched.

I figured I had to try to defend myself and the other Occupiers against this criminal, so I starting heading towards him. He and his accomplices continued yelling at us and doubling up their fists. I was at the point where I was ready to defend myself, but about 5 other Occupiers got in the middle and broke us up. The assailants are damn lucky that happened, because if it hadn't, they'd be spitting teeth right now.

I'm all for nonviolence. But these guys were clearly threatening. I couldn't just stand idly by and allow myself and the other Occupiers to be knocked into next week. You don't know how close we came to a full-on brawl that would have resulted in serious injuries. Like I said, a commitment to nonviolence is a good thing, but there's a fine line between nonviolence and letting yourself be made into a ceiling ornament for the Cincinnati Transit Center. Then again, I'm not claiming to speak for Occupy Cincinnati. Feel free to ask some of the other marchers for their perspective. Unlike the Tea Party, I don't expect people to just take my word unquestioningly.

I called 911. Police did not arrive.

Incidentally, it appears as if an assault was committed, even if nobody actually took a swing. I've heard of people being charged with assault for much less than what the thugs today did.

Now I'm told that what really set off the assailants was when one of the marchers yelled, "Justice!" Right-wing idiots get mad at weird things.

In any event, today's incident was started entirely by those who wanted to fight us. They started it with their own actions. Period.

Meanwhile, the Occupy Cincinnati protest has now been going on 24/7 for over a month. We're not going away.