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.

  • meowmeowbeanz@sh.itjust.works
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    2 days ago

    Swastikas on an overpass in 2025—the audacity of irrelevance. A group of historical reenactors clinging to symbols of failure, only to be chased off by locals with more backbone than the entire justice system. No arrests? Predictable. Hate groups operate with impunity while law enforcement plays referee.

    ”Hate will never prevail,” but it sure gets a free pass when wrapped in a flag and parked in a U-Haul. The NAACP is right—this isn’t random; it’s the byproduct of policies that embolden the worst among us.

    Good on Evendale’s residents. If the authorities won’t act, the people will. Let them retreat into their truck of shame—the future doesn’t belong to cowards with banners of extinction.

    • rocket_dragon@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      2 days ago

      I worked in Evendale about a year. It’s a very white area, not particularly progressive, I’m sure the Nazi shitlords thought they were going to be safer and more tolerated.

      Good on Evendale.

    • yabai@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      I don’t think arrests should be made. Our first amendment guarantees the right to free speech and demonstration, and that includes things we don’t necessarily like. Counter protests, identifying the Nazis, and naming and shaming are all fair game however.

      • meowmeowbeanz@sh.itjust.works
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        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.

      • ysjet@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        Look up the Paradox of Tolerance, or the ‘Contract of Tolerance.’

        The only thing a tolerant society cannot abide by is intolerance.

        And in this case? The rights and morals of free speech means we must- not can, must- abhor nazis.

      • comfy@lemmy.ml
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        1 day ago

        I do not believe in protecting literal neo-Nazis because of some idealistic notion of free speech. They want to exterminate most of the country.

        If the police don’t combat them effectively, then communities should, by any means effective.

        • comfy@lemmy.ml
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          (yes, it isn’t even protected speech under 2nd Amendment, but that doesn’t even matter; fuck them, even if it was protected speech)

  • pyre@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    hmm I wonder if anything happened recently that these traitors felt encouraged that they can be out and about nazis.

    I know no one publicly made a sieg heil or anything. that’s what every major media outlet said.

    residents pushed past police

    as usual the pigs weren’t doing anything because they’re part of the group

    • Paddzr@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      Aren’t nazis like literally the enemy? They were eradicated after WWII, they never stopped being the enemy. As soon as they’re back, it should be open season. Cmon America, use that military budget of yours.

      • Noxy@pawb.social
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        2 days ago

        I regret to inform you of Operation Paperclip. The USA hiring Nazi scientists as soon as they could manage after WW2 is unfortunately how “we” got to the moon

      • rocket_dragon@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        2 days ago

        Well, for too many white Americans, especially the ones in power right now, “America” should stand for a white ethno-state, so they see Nazis as allies who have the same ideals.

        This isn’t new either, Nazis took inspiration from American segregation and Jim Crow laws.

  • meyotch@slrpnk.net
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    2 days ago

    Fun tip. All u-hauls have a padlock hasp on the back door. The rental truck trick is a known method of white supremacist groups for these cute little pop-up hate experiences.

    It is perfectly fine to carry a small padlock around at all times, too.

    • GeeDubHayduke@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      And after you’ve expended your anti-nazi padlock, if said uhaul just magically burst into flames…

      Something something nothing of value something

      • NatakuNox@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        Ya I carry around a couple Molotov cocktails to help speed up the spontaneous combustion of fascist and their property.

    • Thteven@lemmy.world
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      It’s also perfectly legal to carry a length of cloth and a lighter. You know, just in case.

  • comfy@lemmy.ml
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    Remember: these neo-Nazis are usually tourists from interestate. Look at Patriot Front for example, where arrests proved what antifascists already disclosed - the arrested were often from other states around the country. They do these rallies to provide an illusion of decent membership and locality, but it’s complete bullshit. Same strategy is used in other countries too.

    While I haven’t seen a source yet, I see a post already claiming the names of all 5, only one of them is even from Ohio. If true, it’s completely unsurprising.

  • Chip_Rat@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    “No arrests were made”

    Because half the people in the U-Haul were probably co-workers.

    It baffles me that in this day in 2025, with hundreds of data points being reported hourly, that we can’t look at the obvious preferential treatment fascists get from their cop buddies. Had that been a Free Palestine protest and some racist nutjob showed up to harrass them, the cops would have cleared the bridge and arrested a handful of the protestors, MAYBE one of the nutjobs IF they were REALLY pushing it. Then they’d find a reason why that bridge can’t be used for protesting, release the nutjob with a “stern” warning and rake all the protestors across the coals with any minor “disturbing the peace” type charges so they have a record for next time.

    • Nougat@fedia.io
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      2 days ago

      You might be thinking about this in a slightly wrong way.

      “The protest was occurring on sidewalks designed for pedestrian travel. The protest, while very offensive, was not unlawful,” a press release from the Evendale Police Department said. “The protest was short lived in duration. The protesters left the area on their own. No further action was taken by the Evendale Police Department.”

      However, several upstanding citizens interfered:

      Eley said they eventually made it past police and someone snatched a flag from one of the demonstrators.

      “The Nazis began to back off,” Eley said. “They quickly jumped in the back of a U-Haul truck and took off.”

      A woman brought out lighter fluid to burn the flag, and he joined in with others stepping and spitting on the flag, said Eley, who was a Boy Scout.

      “General flag disrespect: it’s a flag that deserves disrespect,” Eley said.

      Resisters got past police, took property, set it on fire, and weren’t arrested.

      That’s a good thing.

  • Emberleaf@lemmy.ml
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    2 days ago

    Sure, you have a right to Free Speech - you can say whatever you like. I also have the right to not do business with you, to not hire you, to remember your face and call you out on the street and let eeeeeeveryone in my neighborhood know who you are and what you do, and to not allow you to use my online services.

  • MyOpinion@lemm.ee
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    2 days ago

    The swastika is like brandishing a sword and should be banned from all public use except museums.

  • carl_dungeon@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    Oh was Elon in town? They should be careful, he might shut down their local hospital and put a high schooler in charge.