Community support rises after Short North neoNazi march
Nov 17, 2024
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) - State and city leaders have renounced the group of masked men who marched in Columbus' Short North neighborhood shouting racist slurs Saturday.
Eyewitness accounts and police reports show the march was not a "peaceful" demonstration.
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"A group of individuals was waving swastika flags, wearing masks, screaming slurs and walking down and as they continued, their slurs got louder,” Keon Tullius, who was out to lunch at a Short North restaurant during the march, said. I” realized that one of them had a megaphone and they were screaming very charged racial terms. They were screaming slurs and threats, and they just walked on by and continued on down the street screaming their obscenities. They were allowed to perpetuate racial hate. It sends a very threatening message, quite frankly. I feel like most people are feeling very unsafe right now"
"It doesn't have any place in our state. It doesn't have any place in our city. It is so hateful. It is so evil. It shouldn't be here," Tullius added.
Another witness shared a video of an altercation. According to a Columbus police report on the incident, there was an altercation when a group of patrons from a Short North bar confronted the masked men. The video shows a verbal exchange and then what appears to be pepper spray deployed from the masked group.
Several eyewitnesses confirmed with NBC4 that the group of marchers used pepper spray.
Columbus attorney Sean Walton helped organize another march on Sunday. That march by approximately 30 Black men took was the same as the neo-Nazi march on Saturday. The message, however, was very different.
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"It's really important to show that we don't have to be afraid, that we are stronger together, and that we are a united front here in Columbus for all people,” Walson said. “We wanted to make a statement today that we're here, we're watching, and that we are willing to stand up for ourselves, but also that we believe that our leaders will stand up for us and will enact legislation that prevents this.”
Walton, like many others in Columbus, saw the videos and reports of what happened Saturday.
"There are reports of, of violence, whether it’s pepper spray or bear spray or, you know, just confrontation and so this isn’t just people exercising free speech,” he said. “This is threatening behavior, is, it's aggressive behavior and so we have to ask what tangible solutions can our elected officials engage in?"
The group marched up and down High Street wearing all black, the same as the group that marched Saturday.
"What we're seeing is people who are a lot more blatant with their racism, their hatred and it's just sad,” Walton said. “Let's figure out how to come together and how to lead and love because so much, you know, hatred is out there right now. There's so much fear, and I think it's important that we practice community care.”
Several other groups and businesses in the Short North made a point to create a safe space, welcoming people in their stores and locking doors while Saturday’s march was happening.
"The community in the Short North is very close-knit,” Tullius said. “It is an arts district. There are a lot of people who are very passionate here, and they're very passionate about maintaining the decorum of the community.”
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After their lunch was interrupted, Tullius posted a video of Saturday's march to social media, getting tens of thousands of shares, views, and comments.
"Facebook removed that video no less than seven times yesterday,” he said. “I had to continuously repost it, and they finally erased the entire post. With 20,000 shares, more than 6,000 comments, and more than 6,000 reactions with no explanation.”
This was another major concern, that content being shared to notify others what was happening was seemingly being censored, according to Tullius.