A Neo-Nazi rally happened in tiny Newnan, Georgia today.
According to some reports, as few as 35 Nazis showed up to hear their leader mock men wearing skinny jeans. To protect them, the state had to send 400 heavily armed law enforcement officers in full riot gear.
But that doesn't mean things were smoothly. The cops were very aggressive with counter-protestors, according to reports from the scene and videos which show use-of-force arrests because of bandanas.
Huffington Posts's Christopher Mathias was shocked by the brutality of the cops.
"I just witness the most over-aggressive policing I've ever seen in #Newnan," he wrote on twitter. "Tackling protesters and arresting them... for wearing masks."
The issue was that anti-Nazi activists covered their faces with bandanas—which the cops responded to with violent confrontations and arrests.
The images were described as "shocking" by others, as well.
The rally organizers carried Nazi flags but faced no violence.
The Nazis were seemingly emboldened by their protection forces. When Mathias tried to ask organizer Jeff Schoep a tough questions, the Nazi told him that he would "have [him] removed for being disrespectful."
In videos, officers aggressively watched to see anyone with a mask and then grabbed them and pull them to the ground while pointing assault rifle-style weapons at the crowd.