Former National Alliance Officer Chester Doles might have thought Saturday’s rally that he organized was going under the radar a few weeks ago, but it didn’t. But that’s okay. The local police had his six. A first person account follows.

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Dozens of stormtrooper-like officers clad in solid black riot gear with no visible insignias or badges, chanted and marched. Where they came from and who they were with, days later, we still don’t have an answer. Barricades protected by men looking as if they were armed for a comic book battle shut down streets. More than 600 police from across two states poured into the small north Georgia town of Dahlonega this past weekend. 

There were Nazis and Klansman rallying for Donald Trump in the public square. But, that’s not really the news from Saturday. After all, white supremacists have been rallying in the South since before the United States was, well, the United States.

The real news from this weekend was the amped up level at which police across Georgia and Tennessee protected the rallying white supremacists and shut down antifacist protesters, going so far as to make social media posts calling the Nazis patriots and saying they were showing up to help protect Dahlonega against “the antifa protests.”

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They seem to have forgotten that the event was organized by Chester Doles, a self-described fourth generation Klansman, with two previous felony convictions that had him serving time in federal prison and who is currently on supervised probation for a December 2016 bar assault during which he smashed a woman’s head into a wall while calling her a “stupid (expletive) white bitch.” 

Three antifascist protesters were arrested in Dahlonega on Saturday. One was arrested before the protest ever started for having a pocket knife in his pocket. The other two were arrested for entering the fascist “protest area” and chanting “Whose streets? Our streets.” They were immediately tackled by more than 20 officers and charged with inciting a riot, but as Channel 11, an Atlanta TV station reported, “no riot broke out.” 

All three were jailed for more than 24 hours with the last being released after more than 48 hours. This long hold was despite bail funds and jail support being available to them immediately after they were taken into custody. 

“Fascists should not feel comfortable or welcome. We don’t fight hate with hate, we fight hate with solidarity,” Ron Watson, the antifascist held the longest, said the morning after she was released from jail. 

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R.S., who was arrested with Watson and who has asked to only be identified by her initials, said on Tuesday morning, “The only statement I’d like to make at this moment is a quote from Shakespeare’s Henry VI (Part 1, act 5, scene 4)

“I never had to do with wicked spirits.
But you, that are polluted with your lusts,
Stain’d with the guiltless blood of innocents,
Corrupt and tainted with a thousand vices,
Because you want the grace that others have,
You judge it straight a thing impossible
To compass wonders but by help of devils.
No, misconceived.”

The penalty for entering the other side’s protest “area” and being disruptive was among many things not equally applied to both antifascists and fascists. 

Acting in a legal support role on Saturday, I spent about four hours in the sweltering full Georgia sun in the antifascist protest “area.” Just minutes before the two antifascists were arrested for entering the fascist side, I observed an encounter in which a man wearing a MAGA hat and periodically giving the “rebel yell” was reported to a nearby deputy. 

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An older gentleman approached the deputy and told him the MAGA-hat wearer was on the wrong side and needed to be removed from the protest area because he was trying to start a fight. The deputy said, “I’ll talk to him.”

The deputy said, “Hey, brother,” and motioned for the man to come to him. The exchange of words I could not hear, but they seemed friendly enough. A few seconds later, the man wearing the MAGA hat walked away and further into the antifascist protest area where he remained for several more minutes before voluntarily walking away. 

The protest areas were set up with antifascists having one side of the barricaded square and fascists having the other side. A building separated the two in the middle. Dozens of the stormtroopers filed in front of antifascist protesters. 

To enter the antifascist protest “area,” protesters had to go through a checkpoint. They were not allowed to have water bottles, bags unless they were clear, cigarette lighters, vapes (although some of the stormtroopers could be seen taking a draw on a vape from time to time). Officers searching possessions opened wallets and rifled through cards. I had a small white handkerchief in my clear backpack. Knowing I would need to wipe sweat off my face during the long hours of standing in the sun, I always have it with me at protests. This was removed as contraband. Officers even instructed protesters that they could not enter the area with necklaces, because these could be used for “street fighting” and some of those wishing to express their First Amendment rights were forced to remove jewelry to enter. 

After having possessions searched, protesters were wanded before being allowed to enter. 

A couple of antifascists who entered undercover on the fascist side report that they were asked to remove items from their pockets as they went through the checkpoint there to enter but that was the extent of their search. They also were not wanded. 

Fascists were also allowed to enter with guns, although they were instructed to remove ammunition from their weapons before going into the protest area. 

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A young black man was denied entry to the protest area with his “Black Lives Matter” cloth banner. Police said it was a safety hazard. On the Nazi side, fascists were carrying flags on sticks. 

A young man was tackled on the antifascist side because he had his cell phone charger in his pocket. Again, Nazis were admitted with firearms. 

Local media estimated the Nazi rally at 35-50 attendees, while the antifascist side was about 200-250. There were also an additional 50 or more antifascists who went uncounted because they refused to enter the “protest pen.” 

The protest lasted about two hours and dispersed, leaving hundreds of police officers and stormtroopers standing on the city square. 

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