Hello Columbus
It’s a very small group of people in one city, but……..well, it’s that kind of very small group.
Ohio officials have denounced a small contingent of neo-Nazis who paraded Saturday afternoon through a Columbus neighborhood – waving flags featuring swastikas and shouting a racist slur – in the latest public demonstration by White nationalists in recent years across the United States.
Around a dozen people in black pants, shirts and head coverings – their faces obscured by red masks – marched along the street near downtown Columbus as three carried black flags emblazoned with red swastikas, footage provided to CNN affiliate WBNS shows.
At least one person yelled, “N***er,” again and again, according to the video that’s garnered online attention far beyond Ohio’s capital. The group strode past low-rise brick buildings housing a salon and a clothing boutique, along with cafés serving tacos, coffee, cookies and bar grub, as its leader shouted through a black bullhorn.
It could be just 12 people annoying the neighbors…or it could be part of the beginning.
While I believe that the First Amendment has to cover unpopular speech to work, I think they should be required to show their faces. Tell ’em leave the face coverings at home, or stay there yourself. Cowards.
I thought that the first amendment to the constitution of the United States of America was implemented in order to protect citizens from interference by law enforcement when criticising the government, not so that mobs could be encouraged by the incoming president to threaten and intimidate their fellow citizens.
Anyway, wasn’t Trump’s dad an anchor baby?
Yes, but that doesn’t count, because he’s white and rich. Compare the case of Melania, who broke the terms of her visa, and is thus an illegal immigrant, but I doubt whether she’ll be expelled. Or Elon Musk, another illrgal immigrant, and an African-American to boot.
Speech has been expanded to include many things that we don’t ordinarily think of as speech, such as the trolls’ claim that they have the free speech right to harass and intimidate on social media. Musk used that as the pretext for taking over X. But the courts have ruled that speech is expanded to expression, including pornography (but not sex education,) money in political contributions, and such things as burning the flag.
In the 1980’s those who are seduced by the siren songs of Trump steered towards the rocks by seeking an amendment to ban flag-burning. True Patriots show their appreciation of freedom by mandating the expressions of gratitude and respect for freedom.
There were anti-masking laws in the late 19th century. They were intended to stop public demonstrations by the Ku Klux Klan. For a while they worked.