Neo-Nazi "Hammerfest 2007" in Portland, Oregon is Shut Down

Portland, Oregon - For months on Internet neo-Nazi and white supremacist message boards, the "Hammerskin Nation" had been promoting their 20th anniversary concert "Hammerfest" as the most important "pro-white" event of the year. Members, supporters and those said to be "new to the racialist movement" were invited to come hear their message of Aryan superiority, drink beer and network with other white supremacist. The location of the event however, was a carefully guarded secret. Planned for October 5-7 in the "greater Portland area", would-be attendees were told the day of the event to meet a contact person at an exit off highway 84 west of Portland to learn the actual location.

In the weeks leading up to rally community activists and anti-racist advocates formed the 'Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism & Fascism' and working with other groups, like Seattle based 'If You Don't They Will', planned several days of concerts and rallies to counter the Hammerskin's message of hate, culminating in an afternoon rally in Portland's Lents Park on the second day of the white power gathering. Organizers say their gathering, which drew over 200 people, was to shine light on neo-Nazi activity in the area and tell fascist and racist groups they are not welcome in their community.

While the Hammerskin Nation and the event's co-sponsors, the Portland based 'Volksfront', publicly claim they do not advocate violence but simply celebrate their own "Aryan" culture, many of their members and associates have long histories of violent racist crime. Three Hammerskin associates were in court in Florida last week facing charges for an attempted home invasion, and last December a concert organized by anti-racist activists at a Jacksonville, FL nightclub was canceled after bullets were fired through the club's windows in the early morning hours before the show. In the days before the shooting, Florida based 'Confederate Hammerskins' had threatened organizers and anyone who went to the event with violence on various Internet forums, but nobody was ever charged with the crime.