`There was a nazi march in Burlington today.
I had heard that they were coming, but I sort of filed it away. Like, no way, they're not going to actually show up. Not here. Plus, I was busy. I had work to do, and my work is actually quite important, and I can't be bothered.
I'm in a lunch meeting downtown and look out the window. Men in masks and giant American flags start walking up the street. Just 7 or 8 of them. They take position on the corner of City Hall park and unfurled a banner that said "Reclaim America!" People stop eating, stop talking. A small group of us go outside to see better.
"Blood and Soil! Blood and Soil!" they chant.
I ask a woman watching on he steps if I heard it right. She said it like a question, "Blood and Soil?"
It's nazis, I told her. She didn't know. The nazis are here, and they're marching on our town.
They packed up quickly as we gathered. We weren't there to counter them, but just to gawk in a sort of dumbfounded way. A couple kids started mocking them. The nazis had no interest in engaging us. They just wanted to let people know that they were here, ready to show themselves. They were letting us know that they would be out in the open now.
They were here to remind me that I can't hide, that there is no safe space.
THERE ARE NAZIS.
MARCHING ON OUR STREETS.
HERE.
In Burlington.
In 2018.`
