Neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement Video Circulating on the Internet Posted: July 10, 2006

An Internet link to a neo-Nazi video with Hebrew subtitles, which features a National Socialist Movement (NSM) rally in Lansing, Michigan, on April 22, 2006, is being widely circulated both in the United States and abroad.  It appears that someone who wanted to expose the neo-Nazi group to an Israeli audience posted the video clip to an Israeli Internet forum and added the Hebrew subtitles to describe the group and translate what was said at the rally.

The video of the rally shows NSM members, clad in Nazi uniforms, making virulently anti-Semitic and racist comments, followed by "Sieg Heil" salutes.  The NSM held the rally to celebrate Adolf Hitler's birthday.  As has been the case at previous rallies, NSM members were joined by members of other white supremacist groups who made similar hateful statements.  While the video is shocking to many, such hate speech is protected by the First Amendment.

After the Lansing rally, an NSM member posted a video clip of the event to the group's Web site.  The video then appeared on YouTube.com, a Web site that allows the public to post, watch and share video clips.  The video also made its way to the Israeli Internet forum and this version containing Hebrew subtitles then circulated around the world. 

The video clearly demonstrates NSM's hateful ideology toward Jews and other minorities, which the group makes known through rallies, literature distributions, and its Web site.  Founded in 1974, the NSM is currently the largest neo-Nazi group in the United States.  The head of the group, Jeff Schoep, leads the organization from Minneapolis and there are dozens of local chapters around the country.  Despite being very active, the group is still relatively small with somewhere between 200 and 300 members.  The NSM has grown in both size and stature due to the demise between 2002 and 2005 of three other major white supremacist groups in the United States--National Alliance, Aryan Nations, and World Church of the Creator.