Central Precinct officers tonight charged a Nazi flag carrying protestor with felony aggravated assault for using the flagpole to strike a downtown bartender who had just been involved in a physical altercation with members of the Neo-Nazi protest group.
Ryan Scott McCann, 29, of Ontario, Canada, is also charged with disorderly conduct. A judicial commissioner ordered that he be held in lieu of $81,000 bond, which will require a source hearing before a Davidson County judge.
McCann was part of a group of Neo-Nazi protestors who carried Nazi flags and spread white supremacist rhetoric this afternoon on Broadway at 3rd Avenue to the displeasure of passersby. A number of police officers, cognizant of free speech issues, were close by watching the group’s actions. The group left Broadway, and headed south on 3rd Avenue. As they walked, Deago Buck, 19, an employee of one of the local bars, became involved in a physical altercation with the protestors. As the parties became separated, McCann was seen striking Buck in the face and in the ribs with the flagpole.
Buck was arrested on misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and resisting police. His bond was set at $2,000.
Chief John Drake condemned the hate being spread by the Neo-Nazi group. He expressed his appreciation to the MNPD officers who spent their late afternoon/early evening monitoring the group’s activities.
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Ryan Scott McCann, 29
Deago Buck, 19