Summary
Masked neo-Nazis marched through Columbus, Ohio’s Short North neighborhood on Saturday, displaying swastika flags and making racist and antisemitic statements.
Police are investigating, and no arrests have been reported.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Columbus officials condemned the display, emphasizing that hate and bigotry have no place in the state.
The incident follows a similar demonstration in Michigan last week, where masked protesters displayed Nazi flags outside a performance of The Diary of Anne Frank.
Everyone shares some level of accountability, and I know nobody wants to hear it and will stomp and huff and gnash their teeth at the notion, but it’s true. Some carry a much larger chunk of that responsibility than others, from of course the people who didn’t care and didn’t vote, and the people who cared and still didn’t vote, to just the people who rolled their eyes every time someone posted a “political” picture in /r/funny and had to start a 300+ comment deep thread about how stupid politics is, down to the small pieces held by everyone who did everything right but never valued their community, didn’t make a stand against people saying and doing things we didn’t agree with, and lets not forget everyone who never involved themselves in their local elections even enough to vote for the people who represent them, they allowed many to go unchallenged and those people went on to prop up a government run by and representing a minority ideology.
Yup.
Democracies only work for average citizens if average citizens inform themselves responsibly and vote responsibly. Americans are AWFUL at that.
I’m honestly ashamed of our country. Never really felt that before. At least not to this degree.