Neo-Nazis march on Walt Disney World

Neo-Nazis dressed up in matching red and black outfits, their identities haphazardly obscured by ski masks and colorful sunglasses, marched on Walt Disney World this weekend in a display more akin to cosplay than a latter-day Third Reich Nuremberg rally.

The Nazi groups shouted white supremacist, antisemitic and anti-LGBTQ+ messages and threw Nazi salutes as they marched and wandered around the Disney Springs shopping center at the mega-resort, as well as in a separate rally a few miles north of Orlando in Altamonte Springs.

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No violence or arrests were reported in either incident, which each lasted a couple of hours.

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According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), about 15 members of neo-Nazi groups Order of the Black Sun, Aryan Freedom Network and the now-disbanded group 14 First demonstrated outside the entrance to the Disney Springs shopping center, where Orange County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched around 10:40 a.m. on Saturday.

“We know these groups demonstrate in high profile areas in order to agitate and incite people with antisemitic symbols and slurs,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement. “The Orange County Sheriff’s Office deplores hate speech in any form, but people have the First Amendment right to demonstrate. What these groups do is revolting and condemned in the strongest way by Sheriff [John] Mina and the Sheriff’s Office. They are looking for attention, and specifically media attention.”

Hours later, more than 50 members of neo-Nazi groups Goyim Defense League and Blood Tribe marched to Cranes Roost Park, a waterfront area in suburban Altamonte Springs, about 12 miles north of Orlando, waving swastika flags, saluting Hitler and shouting “White power” and “Jews will not replace us,” according to the ADL.

“Although the message was disturbing, no actions rose to the level of arrest,” police said in a statement.

“Good people with good hearts don’t have to conceal their identities,” said Altamonte Springs Mayor Pat Bates. “Altamonte Springs is strong, vibrant, and diverse, and hate-filled language won’t change that. Their hate speech may be protected but it is absolutely revolting.”

The incidents come just a week after a white gunman with neo-Nazi ties shot and killed three black patrons at a Dollar General in Jacksonville, FL.  

According to the ADL, Blood Tribe was responsible for projecting the message, “Kanye was right about the Jews” in Jacksonville last October outside TIAA Bank Field stadium in Jacksonville, where Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) was in attendance at a  University of Georgia v. Florida football game.

In a video posted to X, formally known as Twitter, by Florida Democratic state Rep. Anna Eskamani, Goyim Defense League and Blood Tribe can be heard chanting “We are everywhere!” on their march through Altamonte Springs.

“Absolutely disgusting stuff and another example of the far right extremism growing in FL.,” Eskamani wrote.