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Detroit police chief: Neo-Nazis wanted to spark 'Charlottesville No. 2' at gay pride festival

A small group of protesters showed up at Detroit's pride festival.
Credit: Getty Images
DETROIT, MI - JUNE 09: Members of the Allstate Insurance Company walk through the streets during the Motor City Pride Parade on June 9, 2019 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Brittany Greeson/Getty Images)

Detroit's police chief says officers prevented violence by a neo-Nazi group that wanted to spark "Charlottesville No. 2" during a gay pride festival over the weekend.

Chief James Craig said Monday that five people among about 15 white supremacists were legally carrying firearms while they traded barbs with 15-20 counter-protesters during the Motor City Pride festival in downtown Detroit.

Craig says the department's intelligence sources indicated the group wanted to spark violence similar to the deadly 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Craig says officers kept the groups separate and no injuries occurred. He says members of both groups shouted racial epithets at each other and toward police officers in an attempt to bait them into a violent response. No shots were fired during the confrontation.

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