Video footage is circulating widely on Twitter right now of an intense standoff between two people following the Justice For Regis march in downtown Toronto on Saturday, prompting thousands more to research what, exactly, a "Skrewdriver" shirt means.
I'll save you a disappointing click: Skrewdriver was a British punk band that went full-on neo nazi in the 1980s, openly supporting white nationalist groups and releasing tracks with names such as "White Power," "Johnny Joined The Klan" and "N***er, I hate your face!"
The group fell apart with the death of frontman Ian Stuart Donaldson in 1993, but "remains legendary among racist skinheads, neo-Nazis and other white supremacists," according to anti-hate organization ADL.
"Decades later, its logo is still the most common white power music symbol used by white supremacists, who display the symbol on tattoos, patches, pins and clothing," writes the ADL of what it has labelled a "white power music band."
Knowing this helps make sense of why the person filming the aforementioned viral video reacted the way he did.
Bonehead showed up to the protest.
— Uncle Slam • 69kg (@CHANxJACKIE) May 31, 2020
(forgive my word choices, I went full jock mode) pic.twitter.com/YxX8iBd0LY
"What's up, dickhead? Nice shirt, dickhead... don't think I don't know what the fuck that is," says the man filming at the beginning of the clip, which has been seen more than 2.5 million times on Twitter alone as of Monday morning.
"Nice shirt, buddy," he continues, speaking to a bearded man in a Skrewdriver band t-shirt. "What's that shirt stand for? Tell us?... Tell us about your fucking Skrewdriver shirt, buddy!"
The man filming approaches the bearded man, who has been doxxed by the anti-hate Twitter account YVCE as a physicist and avid supporter of white nationalist poster-woman Faith Goldy.
"What do you mean?" he responds when asked aggressively by the camera man to speak about his shirt. "What about it?"
The bearded man leaves on his own, but not before exchanging a few words with the camera man and his associates.
Thank you for this. As a black kid who grew up going to punk shows in Atlanta I saw many Skrewdriver and No Remorse shirts. Shit didn't change until ppl decided it was worth their time to fuck them up every single time these Nazi fucks showed their faces.
— Myke C-Town Ⓥ (@mykectown) May 31, 2020
This shit is NECESSARY.
"Boooo, nazi piece of sh*t!" yells the man filming as the apparent Skrewdriver fan walks away. "NAZI! NAZI!"
While some on Twitter are criticizing the camera man's language and aggression, it's important to note that this interaction took place at the corner of Bay and College on Saturday afternoon.
This is just steps from Toronto Police Headquarters, where the same day activists were holding a peaceful rally protesting anti-Black racism and demanding justice for 29-year-old Regis Korchinski-Paquet, who died after an interaction with Toronto Police last week.
Tensions and passions were already high, and regardless of where you stand in terms of doxxing, swearing or public screaming matches, I think we can all agree that wearing an icon of white supremacy across one's chest to an anti-racism protest is a bad idea.
A bad, disrespectful and dangerous idea.
by Lauren O'Neil via blogTO
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