Saturday afternoon a band of neo-Nazis marched through a Columbus, Ohio neighborhood.  The Nazis were putting on a display of their hate by waving flags emblemed with swastikas and shouting racist slurs. The group was dressed in black pants, shirts, and red masks covering their faces. Police received calls of people marching and spewing hate speech around 1:30 pm.

Only about a dozen people were marching, but they still achieved their goal of rattling the people of Columbus Ohio, and a plethora of people online. Videos of the neo-Nazi marchers in the Short North neighborhood instantly blew up online. The videos showed at least one of the marchers shouting racial slurs like the N-word repeatedly through a megaphone.  At one point one of the marchers sprayed mace at people on the street. The neighborhood they were marching down is known for its arts district of restaurants and galleries. The spread of the videos of the neo-Nazis was quickly denunciated by city and state officials and even the White House.

Columbus’ mayor condemned the “cowardly display” and unequivocally stated the city’s commitment to standing against “hatred and bigotry.” “We will not allow any of our neighbors to be intimidated, threatened, or harmed because of who they are, how they worship, and whom they love,” Mayor Andrew Ginther,  wrote on social media.

The Columbus event is not out of the ordinary. It follows a recent trend of uprising white supremacists. “Over the past few years, hundreds of white supremacist marches and events have been organized around the country, aiming not only to instill fear and anxiety in the communities they target but also to serve as photo opportunities for these groups to use in their recruitment and online propaganda,” said Oren Segal, vice president of the ADL Center on Extremism.

Local attorney Sean Walton helped organize a march the following Sunday to spread a different message against the hate group. The counter-protesters followed the same path but spread a much different message. Sean Walton stated that the march was to show that people don’t have to be afraid, that people are stronger together, and that the community in Columbus, Ohio, is a united front.