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Masked neo-Nazis carrying flags bearing swastikas marched through the streets of Columbus, Ohio, on Saturday.
Videos posted on social media show the group of about a dozen or so men dressed in black and wearing red masks while shouting slurs through megaphones.
The agitators marched in the Short North area of Columbus early afternoon. Police were dispatched at 1:20 p.m. following a call that a member of the group had sprayed pepper spray or mace at a passerby, according to the Columbus Dispatch.
Other callers also reported that the group was shouting racial slurs at people and appeared to be armed.
Sgt. Joe Albert said in a statement that no arrests were made after police responded to calls about the incident, including reports that there may have been an altercation with civilians.
“Shortly after officers arrived on scene, the group left the area without incident,” Albert said, per the Dispatch. “Officers stopped a van the group left in a short distance away to investigate the potential assault that may have taken place. Many of the individuals inside the van were detained, however, it was later determined that an assault did not take place and all of the individuals were released.”
Newsweek reached out to Columbus Police for comment via email.
The incident is part of a wider pattern of white supremacy displays around the country that have taken place in the last 18 months, the Anti-Defamation League Center on Extremism told The New York Times.
Oren Segal, the vice president of the organization, said that these “flash” events are typically small and unannounced in order to avoid counter-protesters organizing, and are designed to gain attention on social media.
“At the end of day, they want to create fear and anxiety in communities and get a photo op,” Segal told The New York Times.
The display was widely condemned by local officials.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said in a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter: “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 this state for hate, bigotry, antisemitism or violence, and we must denounce it wherever we see it.”
Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein said on X: “To those involved in the neo-Nazi march in the Short North today, take your flags and the masks you hide behind and go home and never come back. Your hate isn’t welcome in our city.”
Shannon Hardin, the City Council president, wrote on X that Donald Trump, who has now been re-elected as president, had “emboldened” extremists.
“I’ve been in touch with law enforcement about Nazis marching through the City. I’m sorry the president-elect has emboldened these creeps. This community rejects their pathetic efforts to promote fear and hate. Columbus will always stand with those they seek to intimidate,” he said.
Trump has long denied any association with these groups, but accusations of his links to them have persisted, particularly following his response to the 2017 Charlottesville white supremacist rally where he said there were “very fine people” on both sides.