Tuesday afternoon, I found myself amidst a strangely bizarre scenario akin to some sort of epic comic book cross-over. The legendary Nazis were taking on the rag-tag soldiers of the Occupy movement in an epic clash that was sure to be one for the ages. The day started out so simply… how did it come to this?

“The Nazis only have a permit until 3 PM, so it should be wrapping up soon,” I reported back to the assignment desk, taking a moment to appreciate the bizarre nature of that statement. A group of Neo-Nazis, complete with a rally permit, spent several hours standing in front of California’s State Capitol to protest “white genocide in South Africa.” Interesting.

Across the lawn, a group of counter-protesters formed to declare their distaste for the Neo-Nazi movement and agenda.

Separating the two was a sea of law enforcement officers, ready to lay the smack down if anything got out of control.

All things considered, it was a relatively peaceful event. Choice words were hurled back and forth between the two groups as signs were waved and circles were marched. The Neo-Nazi group said they had a right to express their opinions, while the counter group declared they didn’t care for the hateful message. Agree to disagree, I suppose.

Then came the game changer… Marching down the middle of a busy street, hooting and hollering along the way, came dozens of militant Occupiers from out West. Now things should get interesting.

As they intermingled with the counter-protesters, the noise level increased substantially, as the police force separating the two groups suddenly doubled. While Nazis and Occupiers aren’t known to functionally co-habitate, the Peace Officer is one of the few natural predators of the Occupier. The focus of the group quickly shifted from denouncing the Nazis to denouncing the police, who had no choice but to keep the two groups separated.

It was clear that the temperament of the mob was starting to boil over, just as 3:00 approached and the Neo-Nazis were going to have to leave. In an effort to prevent a full-scale riot, the police led the Neo-Nazis down the street to a parking garage, while the Occupy group ran along the other side of the street. Both sides were shouting insults back and forth, but it wasn’t until a bottle smashed beside my feet that I realized we were in trouble.

I slowly backed away behind a police car as cops in riot gear came rushing in, armed with helmets and clubs. Several officers were hit with paintballs and various projectiles, all from the Occupy side, as the Neo-Nazis retreated into the safety of a parking garage. I was sure to stay behind the police line, knowing that once the clubs start swinging, it’s easy to get mistaken for a troublemaker. I just hoped that the teargas didn’t start flying, because that stuff’s a bitch.

Several arrests were made as the cops descended on the unruly mob. Two officers were injured in the melee, one of which had to be transported to the hospital. Many others were covered in paint.

So in the epic showdown of Occupy vs. Nazi, who came out on top? Ol’ Johnny Law, that’s who.

Once again, Occupiers managed to bury the message of their protest by getting out of control and violent. You know there’s a problem when you face off with a group of Nazis and it’s you that comes away looking like the bad guy. You just can’t go around throwing stuff at cops… they really don’t like it.