OHIO, USA — Members of the Ohio Congressional delegation on Thursday, led by Congresswomen Marcy Kaptur, D-Toledo, and Joyce Beatty, D-Columbus, released a statement condemning the apparent neo-Nazis who marched in Columbus last weekend.
To our fellow Ohioans, we affirm strongly that hate has no place in our Ohio communities. Whether it is on the streets of our State Capitol in Columbus, Toledo, or anywhere else across our Buckeye State, we unequivocally condemn such acts of hatred and incitement. Civil society must always stand together no matter our race, creed, or religion to call out bigotry, and antisemitism wherever it rears its ugly head.
We condemn this reprehensible behavior and hatred wrought on our communities. Today we come together to denounce this behavior, and to work together to rid such hatred from our state, and our nation. Our strength rests in the far larger power of decent people seeking brotherhood and sisterhood and decrying extremism. Together there are far more of us who will call out this hatred, than those who march on the streets to spread it. Together we will shine light to cast out the darkness of hate.
The group of apparent neo-Nazis marched in the Short North on Saturday, Nov. 16. According to our sister station 10TV in Columbus, video shows around 10 people dressed in black pants, black shirts, black head coverings and a red mask covering their mouths. The individuals were marching down North High Street and at least three of them were carrying flags with swastikas.
10TV reports that Columbus Division of Police Sgt. Joseph Albert said many of the individuals were detained but later released.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine provided the following statement Saturday:
"We will not tolerate hate in Ohio. 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. There were reports that they were also espousing white power sentiments. There is no place in the State for hate, bigotry, antisemitism, or violence, and we must denounce it wherever we see it."
Kaptur's office said the incident in Columbus follows a similar incident involving a neo-Nazi group in Sylvania and Toledo in July 2023.
A group of neo-Nazis appeared at a Toledo LGBTQ+ event on July 15, 2023, to "harass" attendees, according to multiple organizations. Equality Toledo and the Jewish Federation of Greater Toledo said the neo-Nazis were masked, carried tiki torches and also appeared at the Jewish Toledo campus in Sylvania "to harass Jews."
Photos and video showed the group wearing symbols associated with a neo-Nazi group while demonstrating on Adams Street. In the videos, the group chanted and displayed hate symbols.
In one video, a member of the group can be seen open-carrying two firearms and wearing tactical gear.
"Equality Toledo unequivocally condemns these acts of hate and white supremacy," Deputy director Brent Rabie said in a statement in July 2023. "Nazis and hate groups are getting bolder, as we saw in Wadsworth, Ohio, in March and Columbus in December 2022. We are stronger than hate, and we are united with our partners in the Jewish community, refusing to be silent in the face of baseless hatred."
