Fox Orlando Affiliate Calls Neo-Nazis ‘A Civil Rights Group’

THINK PROGRESS

A Fox Orlando affiliate decribed Neo-Nazis as “a civil rights group” on a television broadcast and online. The group of Neo-Nazis, known as the National Socialist Movement, has been conducting armed patrols of the streets of Sanford, Florida, the town where Trayvon Marting was shot dead.

The Fox Orlando affiliate, WOFL, aired a shockingly uncritical report of the groups activities. The Fox reporter introduced the group by saying, “There’s another civil rights group in town.” She also conducts an interview with the group’s leader, Jeff Schoep, without challenging any of his claims about the nature and mission of the group. Watch it (via Little Green Footballs):  

An article with a brief summary of the segment first appeared online with the headline: “Civil rights group patrolling Sanford.” (It was subsequently removed without explaination.)

The Southern Povery Law Center has more details about the group:

[T]he National Socialist Movement (NSM) is one of the largest and most prominent neo-Nazi groups in the United States. The group is notable for its violent anti-Jewish rhetoric, its racist views and its policy allowing members of other racist groups to join NSM while remaining members of other groups. Until 2007, NSM members protested in full Nazi uniforms, now traded in for black “Battle Dress Uniforms.”
…The group openly idolizes Adolf Hitler, described in NSM propaganda as, “Our Fuhrer, the beloved Holy Father of our age … a visionary in every respect.” NSM says only heterosexual “pure-blood whites” should be allowed U.S. citizenship and that all nonwhites should be deported, regardless of legal status. As Schoep put it: “The Constitution was written by white men alone. Therefore, it was intended for whites alone.”

The Fox reporter, Jennifer Bisram, includes none of the groups Nazi ties or incindiary history in her report. She concludes: “They say they are just a civil rights group tyring to protect people in case things get out of hand. They say they intend to follow all the Florida laws while patrolling.”