Ohio Officials Denounce Neo-Nazis After March Through Columbus

According to the Anti-Defamation League, the event in Columbus follows the same pattern as other, similar events across the country.

After a group of white nationalists brazenly marched and shouted racial slurs while waving swastika-emblazoned flags, political leaders in Ohio made it known that neither they nor their message of hate was welcome.

According to The New York Times, although the gathering of neo-nazis was small, numbering only about a dozen people, it still rattled the Columbus neighborhood of Short North that they strolled through on Nov. 16.

Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine joined the chorus of voices in Ohio and around the country in condemning the gathering and its hateful messages.

“Neo-Nazis — their faces hidden behind red masks — roamed streets in Columbus today, carrying Nazi flags and spewing vile and racist speech against people of color and Jews,” DeWine said in a statement posted on social media. “There is no place in this state for hate, bigotry, antisemitism, or violence, and we must denounce it wherever we see it.”

According to the Anti-Defamation League, the event in Columbus follows the same pattern as other similar events across the country.

Typically, these are small, unannounced events to avoid counterprotests and to help increase social media presence.

Oren Segal, the vice president of the ADL, told the outlet in an interview that the group wants to create terror in the community.

“At the end of day, they want to create fear and anxiety in communities and get a photo op,” Segal said.

Andrew Bates, a spokesperson for the White House, said in his own statement about the events in Columbus that the group’s sentiments must be confronted.

“This sickening display comes during a tragic rise in antisemitic rhetoric and violence that is a crisis the American people should all come together against.”

Shannon Hardin, a Democrat and the president of the Columbus City Council, tied the group’s rhetoric directly to the rhetoric of Donald Trump in his statements on social media.

“This community rejects their pathetic efforts to promote fear and hate. I am sorry that the president-elect has emboldened these creeps,” Hardin wrote.

According to CNN, Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther, also a Democrat, condemned the “cowardly display” from the group and affirmed the City of Columbus’ commitment against “hatred and bigotry.”

Like the others, Mayor Ginther also released a statement on social media, “We will not allow any of our neighbors to be intimidated, threatened or harmed because of who they are, how they worship and whom they love.”

Columbus community leaders organized a unity march on Nov. 17 in response to the hateful march the day before, which reportedly featured several instances of neo-nazis yelling out the n-word repeatedly.

According to City Attorney Zach Klein, the city’s swift response to the hatred spewed by the group on Nov. 16 is a rejection of them and their ideology.

“Take your flags and the masks you hide behind and go home and never come back. Your hate isn’t welcome in our city,” Klein said on social media. “This is not who we are, and we will not tolerate or normalize this disgusting ideology in any form.”