On the weekend 400 people supporting the Calgary chapter of Anti-Racist Action gathered at Calgary City Hall to show their support for the UN-sponsored International Day to Eliminate Racial Discrimination.

At the intersection of 7th Avenue and 6th Street SW they encountered about 50 members of the neo-Nazi Aryan Guard who were marking something called "White Pride World Day" - an event most Canadians have never heard of - not even the white ones.

The white-and-proud crew were looking for a confrontation. Most of them were camouflaged - wearing scarves and sunglasses to conceal their faces.

Several fights broke out but the police presence prevented the confrontations from escalating. The larger point is why were the cops escorting a few dozen neo-Nazis through the center of Calgary? The police might call it keeping the peace, but to a number of observers it looked like protection for racists.

The protest wound up around 4:30 P.M. when Aryan Guard members boarded a bus and departed the city center.