Summary
A group displaying swastika flags on an I-75 overpass in Evendale, Ohio, was confronted by local residents, leading to tensions and a heavy police presence.
Residents pushed past police, seized a flag, and forced the demonstrators to retreat into a U-Haul truck.
Officials, including Cincinnati’s mayor and Hamilton County’s sheriff, condemned the demonstration.
The Jewish Federation and NAACP also spoke out, questioning where the demonstrators came from. The NAACP suggested the current administration’s policies may have emboldened the group.
No arrests were made.
Free speech isn’t a shield for moral cowardice. Sure, the First Amendment protects their right to spew garbage, but it doesn’t absolve society from holding them accountable. Counter-protests and public shaming are the bare minimum—this isn’t just a “disagreement” over zoning laws; it’s hate with historical blood on its hands.
Letting them parade their insignias of failure without consequence only normalizes their rot. The law may not act, but communities can. Naming them is fine, but what about dismantling the systems that let them thrive in the first place? Shaming isn’t enough if the soil remains fertile for their return.
The future belongs to those willing to fight for it—not just with words, but by uprooting the weeds entirely.