A handful of hate figures from Highland Division gathered in Elgin on Saturday but were met with a 200-strong counter-protest. Neo-Nazi have been sent packing from a Scottish town after they found themselves outnumbered by anti-hate campaigners. A handful of hate figures from alt-right group Highland Division gathered in Elgin on Saturday in a bid to stir up hate and resentment towards refugees who have settled in the town. But a vibrant counter-protest organised by local trade unions saw at least 200 people turn out to drown out their hate speech. The group had invited far-right activist Alek Yerbury – a former soldier who dresses like Oswald Mosley and Adolf Hitler – from the north of England to speak. But the alt-right figure, who has launched a ‘supergroup’ of hate figures called the National Support Detachment, was unable to speak due thanks to the efforts of locals opposed to hate. The neo-Nazis, some of whom cannot be identified for legal reasons, gathered on Elgin’s High Street. One wore a vest bearing the slogan “White Lives Matter” – a racist response to the Black Lives Matter movement – while another wore a belt buckle in the shape of a Nazi infantry division. They then unfurled a banner bearing a white supremacist slogan popularised by David Lane, a Ku Klux Klan member. But counter-protesters drowned them out with megaphones, whistles and music, shouting: “Fascist scum, off our streets.” The neo-Nazis unfurled a banner bearing a white supremacist slogan (Image: Stand Up To Racism Scotland) Police formed a protective barrier around the tiny gang of thugs as the counter-protest grew. Less than three hours after it met at midday, the group of far-right bullies was escorted away from the scene. Stand Up To Racism Scotland said: “The local population of Elgin today gave anti-fascists everywhere a lesson of how you deal with fascist hatred targeting your community. Hundreds of locals spontaneously and peacefully surrounded the Nazis and drowned them in chants and opposition. “Eventually Yerbury and his supporters had to be escorted by police back to their vehicle as anti-fascists celebrated. Today was an utter humiliation for the fascists hoping to build in the racist climate created by government policies. Well done the people of Moray.”
via dailyrecords: Neo-Nazis sent packing from Scots town by anti-hate counter-protest