COLUMBUS – Nearly a week after an outbreak of deadly violence during white nationalist protests in Charlottesville, Va., the backlash continues against right-wing extremist groups in Ohio and across the nation.
In Washington, Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown has reportedly joined a growing number of Democrats who want statue of Confederate historical figures removed from the U.S. Capitol.
Brown joined a chorus of critics, Republican and Democratic, who criticized President Donald Trump for attributing the violence in Virginia to “many side” instead of on white supremacist groups taking part and for defending the display of Confederater monuments.
“We must make clear, with no equivocation, that we will not tolerate threats, or intimidation, or acts of hate in our communities,” Brown said in a written statement released by his office Thursday. “That means calling the ‘alt-right’ what it truly is – it’s racist, it’s hateful, it’s anti-Semitic, it’s bigoted. Neo-Nazis are terrorist groups. It’s important that we say that.”
Meanwhile, a Democratic state lawmaker from Columbus wants Ohio to recognize white supremacist groups as terrorist organizations.
David Leland’s resolution would direct law enforcement in Ohio to recognize white nationalist and neo-Nazi groups as domestic terrorist organizations and pursue their activities with the same resources and attention that are devoted to other homegrown terrorist groups, Leland said.
“I am hopeful we will have the full support of the Ohio legislature so we can send a strong message throughout our nation and the world that Ohioans will stand up to neo-Nazis and white supremacists – hate and terror have no safe haven in Ohio,” he said.
Illinois recently passed similar legislation, Leland said.
In northeast Ohio, a high school is getting rid of the Confederate soldier mascot that has represented its sports teams for over a half century.
Willoughby South High School will drop its “Rebel” mascot, a man dressed in a gray Confederate military outfit, Willoughby-Eastlake City Schools superintendent Steve Thompson announced at a news conference Thursday.
The school is located in Willoughby, 20 miles northeast of Cleveland.
Thompson says he made the decision to support the school’s diverse student body and because of “changing perceptions.”
The sports teams will still be knowns as the South High Rebels. Thompson says the school will create a committee to select a new representation of the name.
The depiction has represented the school since 1959.