NEW YORK CITY — A far-right march held near Ground Zero on the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks took an unusual turn when self-described neo-Nazis appeared not to support the demonstration — but to protest against its organizer.
Far-right activist Jake Lang led what organizers called a “Crusader March” from the area of New York City Hall toward the 9/11 Memorial. The demonstration featured anti-Muslim rhetoric and opposition to Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s presence at the September 11 commemoration.
But among those confronting Lang was a small group whose members openly identified themselves as Nazis.
Video journalist Ken Lopez and ScooterCasterNY approached members of the group and asked whether their appearance was satire.
According to video from the scene, the protesters made clear that it was not.
Members of the group described themselves as “real Nazis” and made openly antisemitic statements, including saying they did not want Americans fighting wars “for Jews.”
Their opposition to Lang appears rooted in his Jewish background. Lang has previously publicly renounced Judaism and has engaged in antisemitic displays himself, but that has not prevented other far-right figures from attacking him over his ancestry. Earlier this year, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency documented growing hostility toward Lang from parts of the extremist right despite his own antisemitic rhetoric.
The result was one of the stranger scenes surrounding this year’s September 11 commemorations: an anti-Muslim far-right activist being protested by neo-Nazis who considered him insufficiently acceptable because of his Jewish background.
Lang’s march itself also produced clashes with other counterprotesters. Police separated opposing groups, and at least one person was arrested after violence broke out near City Hall and the memorial area.
The confrontation unfolded only a short distance from ceremonies honoring the nearly 3,000 people killed on September 11, 2001.
For many watching the scene, the political labels almost became secondary to the spectacle: one extremist faction protesting another — on a day intended for remembrance.
Sources: New York Post | Reuters/Anadolu | Jewish Telegraphic Agency | FreedomNewsTV /
By NJ RADAR Team