Nashville, Tennessee police arrested Ryan Scott McCann, 29, of Ontario, Canada and charged him with felony aggravated assault and disorderly conduct for allegedly hitting a bartender with the pole attached to a Nazi flag on Sunday night.
The bartender had “just been involved in a physical altercation with members of the neo-Nazi protest group,” the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department said.
The Canadian man “was part of a group of neo-Nazi protesters who carried Nazi flags and spread white supremacist rhetoric this afternoon on Broadway at 3rd Avenue to the displeasure of passersby,” the police department stated.
“A number of police officers, cognizant of free-speech issues, were close by watching the group’s actions,” it added. “Deago Buck, 19, an employee of one of the local bars, became involved in a physical altercation with the protesters. As the parties became separated, McCann was seen striking Buck in the face and in the ribs with the flagpole.”