Ohio
Will neo-Nazis, other hate groups and extremists show up in Ohio ahead of 2024 election?
“Ohioans Against Extremism,” a new nonprofit
Maria Bruno, is the leader of a new nonprofit organization called “Ohioans Against Extremism,” that wants to be an unbiased resource for Ohioans to learn about the issues and policies facing the state.
Ohio may no longer be the swing state it once was, but experts say it will still be the target of both in-state hate groups and outside agitators as the 2024 presidential election approaches.
Neo-Nazis already appeared about 48 miles west of Columbus to protest in Springfield in August. Given Columbus’ liberal politics in a right-leaning state, central Ohioans should expect to see demonstrations by hate groups locally this fall, said Jeff Tischauser, senior research analyst at the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).
“Ohio is more or less red, but they still see it as a battleground state,” Tischauser said. “Columbus is a blue city surrounded by red, and it’s an election year.”
Read More: Neo-Nazi group that protested Columbus drag brunch claims to have started an Ohio chapter
The SPLC tracks hate and anti-government groups across the country. Ohio is home to at least 50 such organizations, which the SPLC defines as a group that has beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people.
Investigations into violent extremism nationwide have been on the rise in recent years, FBI Director Christopher Wray told Congress in September 2021. Between 2010 and 2021, the number of domestic terrorism cases the FBI handled grew by 357%, from 1,981 to 9,049, according to a report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
While the coming weeks will show just how active some of Ohio’s hate groups may be in the run-up to the election, there is at least one new local organization hoping to push back on hatred and fear this election cycle.
Ohioans Against Extremism was born in part out of the fact that hate groups and neo-Nazis started showing up more at events around the state, said Maria Bruno, the nonprofit’s executive director. Bruno, who previously worked for Equality Ohio, said she and others began to notice there was a need to connect people who may be dealing with extremism more frequently in their communities.
“I’ve seen what was once fringe internet trolling become things that people say on the House floor,” Bruno said. “We’ve seen this normalization of this rhetoric in the political atmosphere, but then simultaneously, we’re just dealing with more day-to-day safety threats that arise.”
Is Ohio still a top state for hate?
The nation’s heartland has long been a hotbed for hate groups, Tischauser told The Dispatch.
At the end of 2023, Ohio was home to 50 such groups with varying ideologies scattered across the state.
They include the Nazi Blood Tribe, which launched an Ohio chapter last year, as well as several white nationalist groups, five chapters of the Proud Boys, a few anti-LGBTQ+ groups, and 21 militias or antigovernment organizations.
Multiple factors may attract members of such groups to Columbus this fall, Tischauser said, including having the Ohio Statehouse as a backdrop. Following the 2020 election, statehouses across the country became the focus of protests as some voters questioned the results of the presidential race, Tischauser said.
Along with that, Columbus’ left-leaning leaders and residents offer members of extremist groups the chance to face their enemies, Tischauser said.
“Even though Ohio will probably vote red, Columbus is a blue city, there’s a huge university there and it allows them the opportunity to confront their perceived opponents during a huge crisis,” he said.
Another reason Ohio has become a home to hate groups is due in part to the state’s location, Tischauser said.
Ohio is centrally located, and Tischauser said that means members of hate groups in other states don’t have to drive too far to attend demonstrations in the Buckeye state. Groups such as Patriot Front and Nazi Blood Tribe are both able to get between 20 and 40 members to protests in Ohio, in part because it’s easy to get to and the election will be an additional motivating factor for them to gather, Tischauser said.
Members of the Nazi Blood Tribe protested outside a drag brunch at Land-Grant Brewing Co. in Columbus’ Franklinton neighborhood in the spring of 2023.
“It’s going to provide an opportunity for these types of groups to get attention,” Tischauser said.
What can Ohioans do to combat extremism?
While the nonprofit Bruno leads will continue to raise awareness about extremism as the election approaches, she said it will also try to turn down the temperature on the politics of the moment.
This presidential election cycle has already been upended multiple times, including after an assassination attempt on the Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump, earlier this summer in Butler County, Pennsylvania. President Joe Biden also dropped his reelection bid in late July, propelling Vice President Kamala Harris to the top of the Democratic ticket as the first woman of color to lead a major political party.
“We really want to kind of mobilize voters, and we want to incentivize politicians to keep the decency alive,” Bruno said.
Read More: What is a ‘boogaloo?’ Some protested at the Ohio Statehouse
Bruno hopes the nonprofit she’s leading will help to reconcile a “split between the will of the voters and the conversations we’re having on the ground and … within the Statehouse walls.” If successful, Bruno said such a movement could help voters and their elected leaders see more eye to eye and could also dissuade extremist groups from thinking they have a say in Ohio’s politics.
But Bruno said the organization’s work won’t be done after the election.
Part of its mission, she said, will be to help Ohioans navigate through the “mud fight” that could erupt again if some leaders question the security and results of the presidential election. The difficulty in that will be figuring out how to separate reality from fantasy in what Bruno described as a “really, really saturated political environment.”
“We want to help voters be able to separate what is a rumor from a fake story, or opinion from an actual thing that happened,” Bruno said. “I know that sounds scary and dystopian, but that’s also really just where our political information environment is at the moment.”
mfilby@dispatch.com
@MaxFilby
CLEVELAND, Ohio — OHSAA girls basketball scores from Friday in Ohio, as provided by The Associated Press.
Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard, Mich. 43, Notre Dame Academy 35
Baltimore Liberty Union 47, Cols. Hamilton Twp. 34
Berlin Center Western Reserve 68, N. Jackson Jackson-Milton 46
Blanchester 40, Bethel-Tate 37
Chagrin Falls 37, Burton Berkshire 32
Circleville 62, Amanda-Clearcreek 40
Cle. Hay 88, Cle. Glenville 2
Cols. Centennial 78, Columbus International 50
Cols. Linden-McKinley 54, Cols. Whetstone 28
Cols. Walnut Ridge 73, Cols. Marion-Franklin 12
Delaware Buckeye Valley 50, CSG 43
Delta 48, Bryan 44
Dublin Coffman 47, Cols. Upper Arlington 39
Hilliard Darby 43, Thomas Worthington 32
Johnstown 47, Johnstown Northridge 41
Mason 54, Cin. Colerain 32
Newark 56, Ashville Teays Valley 42
Oak Harbor 52, Millbury Lake 31
Ohio Deaf 50, Ky. School for the Deaf, Ky. 9
Pemberville Eastwood 65, Rossford 35
Pickerington North 41, New Albany 33
Springboro 66, Centerville 33
Stryker 54, Montpelier 20
W. Chester Lakota W. 76, Fairfield 24
Wauseon 55, Swanton 13
Western Reserve Academy 65, Lawrenceville School, N.J. 33
Westerville Cent. 57, Grove City Cent. Crossing 20
Worthington Christian 57, Tree of Life 16
Zanesville 58, Newark Licking Valley 40
Students across various majors at The Ohio State University recently gathered at the Fisher College of Business to discuss how study abroad opportunities have helped them hone skills that will benefit their studies and chosen career paths.
Fisher’s Office of Global Business and its Office of Advancement hosted the inaugural Global Experience Luncheon. The event was held at the Blackwell Inn on the Columbus campus.
The luncheon brought together alumni who have donated to study abroad programs with students who have participated in them, said Dominic DiCamillo, senior director of the Office of Global Business.
“We were excited to partner with Advancement for the first time to facilitate this type of personal connection. The families that have created these endowments, oftentimes, they hoped it would have some sort of positive impact,” he said. “This is the first time for them to hear firsthand from the students who recently participated.”
Xin Lin, a third-year finance student, shared her experiences studying abroad in Hamburg, Germany, and Chiang Mai, Thailand. While in Germany in summer 2024, Lin completed the Fisher Freshman Global Lab with Professor Michael Knemeyer and studied at the Kühne Logistics University.
During Lin’s semester in Germany, her cohort toured the facilities of several international companies, including the Mercedes-Benz auto manufacturer, Seven Senders logistics enterprise, and Jack Wolfskin outdoor apparel.
“This was my first time being in Europe,” she said. “It was a really eye-opening experience and taught me to be curious about exploring other cultures, which is why I made the decision to study abroad in Chiang Mai, Thailand.”
This past summer in Chiang Mai, Lin completed the competitive Fisher Global Consulting: Nonprofit program, which is funded by an endowment established by Chris Connor, a 1978 Ohio State alumnus, and his wife, Sara. The participating students, called Connor Scholars, gain firsthand insights into the cultures and business practices of countries in developing regions worldwide.
“We were there for two weeks working on the sustainability and the marketing for the local elephant foundation, as well as to support the villagers,” she said. “And my team and I, we worked on the sustainability curriculum for the local school.”
Lin said participating in study abroad programs sharpened her decision-making and problem-solving skills.
“Leveraging these experiences has strengthened my understanding of international business and macroeconomics,” she said. “Most importantly, it is the growth mindset and the endless learning that these experiences have taught me, and I’m really excited to be carrying these values into my future career and my academic journey.”
Jacob Brodson, a fourth-year marketing major, said participating in the Fisher Global Marketing Lab in Taiwan this past summer was “a transformational, life-changing trip.”
“If you can go to someplace that’s so fundamentally different from what we experience here on a day-to-day basis, you should absolutely take the opportunity to,” he said. “And Taiwan is that opportunity.”
Brodson said studying marketing and visiting 10 companies in Taiwan gave him a broader perspective on business practices in different countries.
“We went to TSMC, which is the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. That’s the 10th largest company in the world that you probably have never heard of, but they make all the phone and computer chips that are in your cellphones,” he said. “It was an unbelievable experience to see that.”
Brodson and his classmates also toured a Kenda Tire facility.
“They actually do a lot of marketing at Ohio State sporting events because their U.S. headquarters is out in Reynoldsburg,” Brodson said. “We got to see their entire manufacturing plant in Taiwan.”
Brodson said he was pleasantly surprised to discover a Buckeye community overseas. He met more than 25 Ohio State alumni throughout Taiwan.
“We are halfway across the world and yet the most beautiful thing is that there are still reminders of home. We’re halfway across the country and there are still Buckeyes there,” he said. “That is one of the coolest things – seeing the Ohio State alumni and the fact that this Buckeye tradition transcends countries.”
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CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – A powerful cold front will be tracking through today.
A second system impacts the area tomorrow.
It is very warm and very windy today. High temperatures forecast to be above 60 degrees in many towns before the cold front blows through.
Temperatures tumble through the 50s and into the 40s later this afternoon.
We have showers and a few thunderstorms in the area. The risk of rain will end behind the front. A south wind shifts west and could gust over 45 mph at times today.
Colder and much less wind tonight with a mostly cloudy sky. Early morning temperatures tomorrow will be in the 30s.
The system tomorrow will track across the Great Lakes and will be centered north of us Saturday night.
Moisture gets drawn up from the south. Showers develop by afternoon.
The rain isn’t expected to be heavy with less than .25″ in the forecast. High temperatures make it into the 40s.
Colder Saturday night and blustery. Southwest winds could gust to around 30 mph at times.
A window is there Sunday for snow showers and lake-effect.
It’ll be very windy on Sunday. West winds could gust over 45 mph at times. Afternoon temperatures around 30 degrees.
Copyright 2026 WOIO. All rights reserved.
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