Neo-Nazi group connected to St. Louis condemned after latest demonstration
The same white supremacist group that flew Nazi flags above highway 40 in October, sparking outrage across the St. Louis area, is now taking credit for an equally disturbing march in Ohio over the weekend. And they’re being condemned by high-profile organizations both near and far.
ST. LOUIS – The same white supremacist group that flew Nazi flags above Interstate 64 in October, sparking outrage across the St. Louis area, is now taking credit for an equally disturbing march in Ohio over the weekend. And they’re being condemned by high-profile organizations both near and far.
Videos filmed in Columbus, Ohio, over the weekend show a St. Louis-based group called "The Hate Club" marching through the streets Saturday. They could be seen waving Nazi flags and even pepper-spraying a passerby who confronted them.
The Anti-Defamation League says the group formed the day after a similar demonstration in October at the Mason Road overpass above Interstate 64 in St. Louis.
The President of the St. Louis City NAACP says they have heard more complaints about hateful speech and discrimination since the November election. While he supports their right to free speech and to assemble, he fears groups like this one may be pushing the envelope on purpose.
“We get close to the line of whether it’s freedom of speech or the attempt to intimidate,” St. Louis City NAACP President Adolphus Pruitt said. “And if it’s an attempt to intimidate, and it has racial connotations to it, we have federal laws for that.”
The local chapter of the ADL says their investigation found the group’s founder lives in the St. Louis area and took part in both demonstrations.
“It’s just a naked display of hate, anti-Semitism, and racism,” ADL Heartland Regional Director Jordan Kadosh added.
Kadosh says while they’ve seen hundreds of displays like these across the country, it’s important people come together to condemn each one of these acts vigorously.
“When hate groups go on the road, it’s the communities that suffer,” Kadosh said.
The White House and the governor of Ohio each put out statements condemning Saturday’s demonstration in Columbus, as did the Jewish Federation of St. Louis.
Columbus Police detained—but did not arrest—any of the demonstrators over the weekend. The department said while there were multiple altercations, no one was assaulted during the incident.
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