Police estimated 800 people filled the street Saturday to protest a neo-Nazi rally, which was held at the Capitol. The farmers market closed an hour earlier than usual in anticipation of the rally.,”Hundreds of people showed up in the capital to shut out the message of a few dozen.

Police estimated 800 people filled the street Saturday to protest a neo-Nazi rally, which was held at the Capitol. The farmers market closed an hour earlier than usual in anticipation of the rally. An orange snow fence and about 300 police in riot gear separated the protesters from the neo-Nazis.

The neo-Nazis rallied around the issue of illegal immigration. As they arrived at 2 p.m., they were drowned out by both the screams from hundreds of protesters and rain.

According to Kris Johnson, leader of the Wisconsin Chapter of the National Socialist Movement, the group which held the rally, the neo-Nazis are against illegal immigration.

"Our current government are not securing our borders," he said in an interview with the Tribune. "We need to take our troops out of Iraq and put them back on the border."

The group, Johnson said, believes national borders are sacred, wants to affirm national patriotism and is anti-capitalist.

"We believe in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights," he said, "but also in a classless society."

Many in the crowd were protesting the neo-Nazi message, and there was debate over whether to take the message seriously.

"I am encouraging people to laugh at this," said Tony T., 43, of Madison who refused to give his entire last name. "People have a right to free speech but we should laugh at this stuff."

Umar Bey, 46, of Brooklyn, N.Y., said the neo-Nazi rally should not take place, despite the right to freedom of speech.

Lonell McRath, 27, of Milwaukee was confused.

"This is 2006," he said. "Why are they doing this now?"

Throughout the rally, the protestors screamed and made noise in order to drown out the neo-Nazi message.

At one point the neo-Nazi group, dressed in khaki uniforms with swastika armbands, held up their hands, did the Heil salute and screamed, "White power." The protestors chanted, "Nazis out, immigrants in," and "Hey hey, ho ho, racist bigots have got to go."

A group of 20 people from Milwaukee wearing black bandannas marched in the street with a banner saying "Anti-Racist Action." They were screaming anti-Nazi chants as they walked back and forth through the street.

Five people were arrested for throwing tomatoes at the police.

Frustration mounted as protestors called the police Nazis for protecting the neo-Nazi rally.

The protesters were from a diverse set of groups. The American Civil Liberties Union, Allied Pride, the International Socialist Organization and the April 10th Immigrants Rights Coalition all came together to form the No Nazis in Madison Coalition.

According to Jesse Zarley, 20, a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the coalition was formed in July and met once a week to organize the counter-protesters.

"There is no such thing as an illegal human being," Zarley said.

Libby Belden, 20, also a student at UW-Madison, said she is a supporter of the ISO and disagrees with the neo-Nazis' ideals.

"Nazis want a worker party for whites only," Belden said. "They want to keep immigrants out."

Another student, Candace Strohs-Krause, 20, of UW-Madison, said she was very happy with the amount of counter-protesters.

"The only way to shut out their message is if either no one shows up or everyone shows up," she said. "Some people will definitely show up, so we need as many people as possible."

But despite the debates raging on both sides, some people were just there to observe.

"We were at the farmers market and decided to stick around," said Danielle Courter, 20, a student at UW-Madison. "We are mostly here for entertainment."

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