“Communist Manifesto” Reading at East Side Socialist Library Draws Neo-Nazi Protesters — and Police
GoLocalProv News Team
“Communist Manifesto” Reading at East Side Socialist Library Draws Neo-Nazi Protesters — and Police
David Raileanu with the Red Ink Community Library on Cypress Street spoke with GoLocal Monday morning about the incident.
“We planned an event [Sunday night] to celebrate the 174th anniversary of the Communist Manifesto,” said Raileanu. "We planned the event for 6 PM, both in-person and live stream, and we started on time with opening remarks and a video, then we started reading the first chapter of the Communist Manifesto."
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTAccording to Raileanu, the library was opened last fall as a “local independent member and community supportive library — and a celebration of socialist values and community-building knowledge and education.”
“At about 6:40 [PM Sunday night] we got through the first chapter, when there was loud banging on the windows and yelling from the street — our members went outside to see what was going on,” said Raileanu. “There were people wearing insignia of fascist and neo-nazi groups. They tried to disrupt and disband our meeting. I remained inside, I heard there were probably 20-30 protesters, but it could have been as many as 50. Our members told them to leave us alone which did not work, so our members came back inside.”
“They continued to try and disrupt the event — we found out later they were disrupting the entire neighborhood, and neighbors called the police,” said Raileanu.
“About 5 or 5 squad cars showed up. They got on their loudspeakers and told the protesters to go home,” said Raileanu. “They briefly checked in with us to make sure no one was hurt. After a few minutes, they circled back and told us most of the protesters had left. At about 7:15 we picked up where we left off.”
Socialism, Communism, Neo-Nazism, and Fascism.
“I don’t think I’m speaking out of turn when I say I think the rise of alt-right sentiment and alt-right media has emboldened facets of the fascist and neo-Nazi movements,” said Raileanu. “Historically, communist and mass socialist movements are the only ones that have been successful in defeating Nazis and fascists. By attempting to disrupt our meeting, they declared pretty openly that we are an open threat to what they believe in.”
“If there’s one positive, if we and what we do are on the opposite side of fascism and neo-Nazis, I think we’re on the right side,” said Raileanu. “I want to express gratitude to the people here [at our event] who showed restraint and poise. And I want to apologize to the neighbors — I don’t want to take responsibility for the actions of violent thugs, but I want to assure them we’ll be taking steps to ensure their safety.”
The Black Lives Matter RI PAC issued the following statement Monday morning.
"There is no greater threat to Rhode Island than nazism and white supremacy. Yesterday evening, an organized group of Neo-Nazis that have established themselves throughout Rhode Island terrorized Red Ink Community Libary in Providence Ward 3."