OMAHA, Neb.—Area law enforcement agencies are asking for federal assistance to help pay for security at an immigration protest outside the Mexican Consulate near downtown.
About 316 officers were stationed around the Minnesota-based neo-Nazi group’s protest Sept. 1. The combined cost for six of the 10 agencies involved was about $69,000. Costs for the other four agencies was not immediately known.
About 65 members of the National Socialist Movement attended the rally. An estimated 120 people showed up to protest against the Nazi group.
The local law enforcement agencies hope to be reimbursed with Homeland Security grant money, which is doled out by state officials. The request has been denied once, but the agencies are asking that state officials reconsider.
Omaha Police Chief Thomas Warren said money from the city’s general fund will be used if his department isn’t reimbursed for the $42,890 it cost to pay the 185 Omaha officers who worked the event.
No violence wasn’t reported at the protest.
The large law enforcement presence was necessary, Warren said, because Nazi rallies have been lightning rods for violence other places.
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Information from: Omaha World-Herald,
