‘In Memory of Hammer Joe Rowan 1972 – 1994′; Hammerfest Comes to Melba and Leaves Without Incident

THE FACTS: On Saturday, October 1st, 1994, at approx. 2:15 am, Joe entered a convenience store to purchase beer and food on his way to a gathering after the concert, which ended just 30 minutes earlier. In the store, an argument broke out between Skinheads and 3 blacks, who left the store unharmed. Moments later, one of the blacks re-entered the store with a weapon that he had apparently gotten from the car, and began shooting at the Skinheads inside. Joe was hit in the left side of the mid-section during the ensuing chaos and the bullet passed right through him. He died almost immediately.

The police arrested the suspected gunman, Naseer Ghani, age 19, who was positively identified by several Skinheads. Racine County District Attorney Robert Flancher has stated that “We are convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Ghani did the shooting.” Despite the eyewitness testimonies and detailed statements provided at the scene, Ghani was released from custody on Tuesday, October 4th without formal charges having been laid. At press time, charges still have not been laid. Ghani’s attorney, Racine lawyer Mark Richards, argued that the arrest of Ghani was based on “the unreliable claims of White supremacist witnesses who picked out the first black man they saw.”

In Memory of Hammer Joe Rowan
1972 – 1994

Hammerfest: The Annual Neo-Nazi Rock Extravaganza

This festival doesn’t feature in any event listing. In fact most people don’t get to know about the venue of the event till couple of hours before the event. This is however done on the part of the organisers to avoid every possible chance of getting the the event sabotaged. Wonder what’s this event all about? You may or may not have heard of Hammerfest … most probably you haven’t heard. It’s the annual neo-Nazi, skinhead rock festival, organised by Hammerskin Nation, one of the world’s largest & most violent skinhead group from the U.S. This is the 25th year of the festival and it’s going to be held on this coming Saturday, in the city of Boise, Idaho. Hammerskins (members of Hammerskin Nation) have joined hands with one of their old rivals, Vinlanders Social Club. 

Locals have already reached out to authorities via phone calls & emails, expressing their concern the skinhead showdown scheduled for this weekend. Boise Mayor Office’s Spokesman Adam Park told LA Times, “We’ll be talking with the police and monitoring this closely to ensure that if there is an event like this, that there’s no negative repercussions from it … But in this country we have free speech rights,  and if an organization, even one espousing some pretty hateful and vile beliefs, wants to put on an event, then that’s something that we have to let proceed.”

Neo-Nazi Musicfest Comes to Melba and Leaves Without Incident

A much anticipated but minimally promoted Hammerfest went off “without a hitch” Oct. 6, according to Canyon County law enforcement, who told Citydesk that the racially charged concert was held on private property in rural Canyon County.

“We got word through chain-of-command that they were planning this,” Cpl. Bill Jarrett told Citydesk. “And Saturday night, we learned that they were holding their event on private property off of Melmont Road in Melba.”

Jarrett dubbed the event “a hateful little concert,” but said the group was “expressing its First Amendment rights.”

Hammerfest, which has seen previous incarnations in Australia, Italy and Wales, is promoted by Dallas-based Hammerskin Nation. According to the Anti-Defamation League, Hammerskin Nation “is the most violent and best organized neo-Nazi skinhead group in the United States.”

“Whenever you have folks like the Aryan Nation coming to town, they can bring problems,” said Jarrett. “But they didn’t want too many people to know where they were going to hold their concert. I guess they didn’t want to get any protesters.”

Jarrett told Citydesk that Canyon County sheriff’s deputies knew where the concert was being held but were “not going to babysit them.”

In between profanities and photographs from the event on the group’s Facebook page, one person wrote that the concert was “about as threatening as a sorority sleepover.”  SOURCE

thank you Brian

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