Several people stabbed in clashes at white extremists rally in Sacramento

UPDATED (8:30 p.m PT): Updated number of injured to 10, per authorities.

Ten people were hurt, several with stab wounds, when counter-protesters clashed with members of The Traditionalist Worker Party at a rally in Sacramento on Sunday afternoon. 

California Highway Patrol Officer George Granada said about 30 members of the Traditionalist Worker Party were gathering for a rally around noon Sunday at the California state capitol when they were met by about 400 counter-protesters and a fight broke out.

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Calling it a "mass-casualty incident," the Sacramento Fire Department said on Twitter that five people had been hurt in the incident and transported to a local hospital. 

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Sacramento Fire Department spokesman Chris Harvey said nine men and one woman, ranging from 19 to 58 years old, were treated for stab wounds, cuts, scrapes and bruises. Of the injured, two were taken to the hospital with life-threatening stab wounds, Harvey said.

"There was a large number of people carrying sticks and rushing to either get into the melee or see what was going on," he said.

ABC 7 in San Francisco later reported that 2 of the injured were in life-threatening condition. 

ABC 10's Frances Wang, reporting from the scene, shared harrowing video and photos of the protest both before and after the attacks. 

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Some of the injured were treated at the scene and pools of blood were visible on the sidewalk near where one of the attacks happened. 

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Independent journalist Dave Id was also on the scene and captured the aftermath of the clashes. 

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Matthew Heimbach, chairman of the Traditionalist Worker Party, told the Los Angeles Times that his group and the Golden State Skinheads organized the Sunday rally. Heimbach said that in the clash, one of their marchers had been stabbed in an artery and six of the counter-protesters had also been stabbed.

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Anti-fascist protesters had been planning for weeks to attend Sunday's rally and disrupt the Party's plans. 

In a post on the Party's website, it seemed members were prepared for the counter-protesters: 

The state’s Marxist paramilitary groups and local gang members have vowed to stop the march through violence, and because of the mass subsidization of these groups by Non-Governmental Organizations in California, we are estimating that their mob may outnumber our men up to 10 to 1.

After the incident, the rally was cancelled by authorities. According to Wang, no suspects have been arrested. 

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The Southern Poverty Law Center featured the TWP last year as a rising extremist group who was taking the political route to elevate its stature, running a handful of candidates for local offices. 

“Most pro-white endeavors [in politics] run themselves out by running for too much at too high of a level,” TWP founder Matthew Heimbach told Hatewatch. “Our mission is to create a European-styled nationalist movement that really follows their [Europe’s] example, where the party is really a subculture.”

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This is the second such violent confrontation involving white extremists in California this year; in March, three people were stabbed during a fight between members of the KKK and counter-protesters.

Additional reporting by the Associated Press.

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