Wisconsin

‘Repulsive and disgusting’: Wisconsin officials condemn neo-Nazi group after march in Madison

Published

1 year ago

November 21, 2023

‘Repulsive and disgusting’: Wisconsin officials condemn neo-Nazi group after march in Madison

MADISON, Wisc. — A group of nearly two dozen people waving flags displaying Nazi insignia and chanting antisemitic rhetoric marched through parts of Wisconsin’s capital city on Saturday, sparking condemnation from state and local officials.

Demonstrators at the march were part of the “Blood Tribe,” a right-wing, neo-Nazi group with hardline white supremacist views. The group, dressed in red shirts with “Blood Tribe” written on the back, marched in downtown Madison and on state Capitol grounds.

Group members chanted “Israel is not our friend,” threatened “There will be blood” and shouted racial slurs at bystanders while marching. According to social media posts, the group also briefly marched on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus and stopped in front of a local synagogue, Gates of Heaven.

While state and local officials condemned the group’s hateful rhetoric, the Madison Police Department said the group had demonstrated lawfully.

“To see neo-Nazis marching in our streets and neighborhoods and in the shadow of our State Capitol building spreading their disturbing, hateful messages is truly revolting,” Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said in a statement Saturday. “Let us be clear: neo-Nazis, antisemitism, and white supremacy have no home in Wisconsin. We will not accept or normalize this rhetoric and hate. It’s repulsive and disgusting, and I join Wisconsinites in condemning and denouncing their presence in our state in the strongest terms possible.”

The group’s march comes amid skyrocketing reports of antisemitism and Islamophobia across the United States as the Israel-Hamas war stretches into its second month. The march is also the latest neo-Nazi demonstration that has made national headlines, including gatherings outside the Walt Disney World theme park in Orlando, Florida, earlier this year.

Rise in antisemitism, Islamophobia: Feds, local officials on high alert as reports of antisemitism, Islamophobia surge

What is the ‘Blood Tribe’ group?

The Blood Tribe became a membership organization in 2021 and claims to have chapters across the United States and Canada, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). The group “openly directs its vitriol at Jews, ‘non-whites’ and the LGBTQ+ community.”

The group led demonstrations nationwide in 2023, including a hateful protest at a July “Pride in the Park” event in Watertown, Wisconsin, about 40 miles northeast of Madison. Members of the group brandished rifles, displayed swastikas, and hurled homophobic slurs and threats at LGBTQ+ people during the event.

Christopher Pohlhaus, nicknamed “Hammer,” is the Blood Tribe’s leader and a former U.S. Marine. Pohlhaus was one of two unmasked figures at Saturday’s neo-Nazi march.

Pohlhaus, originally from Texas, founded the group in 2021, according to the ADL. He was present at other Blood Tribe neo-Nazi events in 2023.

‘No place that we feel safe’

The University of Wisconsin-Madison criticized the group’s march and Jennifer Mnookin, the university’s chancellor, called their presence in Madison “utterly repugnant” in a statement Saturday.

“I am horrified to see these symbols here in Madison,” Mnookin said. “Hatred and antisemitism are completely counter to the university’s values, and the safety and well-being of our community must be our highest priorities.”

Rabbi Bonnie Margulis, executive director of Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice, said people living in Madison sometimes have a false sense of security given its reputation as a progressive enclave.

“We’re living in very, very scary times,” Margulis told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, part of the USA TODAY Network. “The American Jewish community is very scared right now, as is the Muslim community and the Sikh community… There’s no place that we feel safe.”

New warning on war’s fallout: ‘Violent extremists targeting Jewish or Muslim communities’

Surge of antisemitic, Islamophobic incidents

Federal, state and local authorities have been on high alert as reports of antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents have increased across the United States since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. Last month, FBI Director Chris Wray warned violent extremists could draw inspiration from Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

According to the ADL, the group has documented 832 antisemitic incidents of assault, vandalism, and harassment between Oct. 7 and Nov. 7.

“This represents a 316 percent increase from the 200 incidents reported during the same period in 2022,” the ADL said in a November survey.

And the Council On American Islamic Relations (CAIR) said there has been an “unprecedented” increase in complaints of anti-Muslim or anti-Arab bias in the month since violence escalated in the Middle East. CAIR said it has received 1,283 requests for help and reports of bias between Oct. 7 and Nov. 4.

Contributing: Christopher Cann and Will Carless, USA TODAY; Jessie Opoien, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Tyler Katzenberger’s reporting is supported by the Poynter and Google News Initiative Misinformation Student Fellowship Program.

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Wisconsin

Preview: No.18 Wisconsin Looks for LA Sweep When It Takes On UCLA

Published

2 hours ago

January 21, 2025

Press Room

Preview: No.18 Wisconsin Looks for LA Sweep When It Takes On UCLA

No.18 Wisconsin (15-3, 5-2 Big Ten) vs. UCLA (12-6, 3-4 Big Ten)

Date/Time – Tuesday, January 21, 8:30 p.m.

Arena – Pawley Pavilion (13,800)

Watch – Peacock (Ted Robinson and Darren Collison)

Radio – Badgers Radio Network (Matt Lepay and Brian Butch), Sirius 106 or 195, stream online on iHeartRadio.

Series – UCLA leads 5-2 (UCLA leads 2-1 in Los Angeles)

Last Meeting – UCLA won, 72-70, on November 21, 2017, in Kansas City, Mo.

Follow Online: The Badgers’ Den

Twitter: @Badger_Blitz

Betting line: UCLA -3.5

Projected Starting Five (Wisconsin)

Player to Watch: During UW’s seven-game win streak, Crowl is averaging 15.2 ppg & 6.0 rpg while shooting 71.4 percent (7-15 3FGs).

Projected Starting Five (UCLA)

Player to watch: Bilodeau has scored in double figures in 13 of 18 games, having reached the 20-point plateau in three contests. Last month in New York City, he totaled a career-high-tying 26 points in a loss to North Carolina. He is shooting 50.5 percent from the field and 38.8 percent from 3-point distance.

Series Notes

Tuesday will mark the eighth meeting between Wisconsin and UCLA in a series that dates back to 1948, but this will be the first meeting since the Bruins joined the Big Ten.

The Bruins have won the last 5 meetings including neutral wins in the 1995 Maui Invitational and the 2017 Hall of Fame Classic most recently.

UW and UCLA haven’t played at either school’s home site since a 94-53 UCLA win in Los Angeles in 1972.

UW has won 6 straight in Los Angeles, including Saturday’s 84-69 win at USC.

Wisconsin Notes

The Badgers have matched their best 18-game start under Greg Gard, also doing so in the Sweet 16 2016-17 season and UW’s 2021-22 Big Ten championship season.

A win at UCLA would be Wisconsin’s sixth-consecutive Big Ten win, the longest conference win streak since ending the 2019-20 season with eight straight Big Ten wins.

The Badgers are 8-3 against the top 2 quadrants of the NET rankings, including 3 Quad 1 wins and zero losses outside of Quad 1.

Wisconsin is 5-2 away from home.

Including a Kohl-Center record 116 points vs. Iowa (1/3) and the 84 points Saturday at USC, Wisconsin had hit at least 80 points in 11 of 18 games, the team’s most since the 2014-15 season (11 times).

UCLA Notes

The Bruins have gone 8-1 in Pauley Pavilion this season, now in their 59th campaign playing in the longtime UCLA basketball venue.

UCLA has gone 1-4 in January after compiling a 5-1 record through December.

UCLA ranks No. 6 in the nation in turnovers forced per game (17.0) and eighth in turnover margin (+5.1).

The Bruins rank No. 19 in the nation in scoring defense (63.7 ppg), limiting the opposition to 65 points or fewer in eight of 18 games this season.

A Pac-12 All-Defensive team honoree the last two seasons at USC, Johnson has totaled 190 steals in 109 career games (1.74 spg) since traveling this season. The Milwaukee native enters tonight with a team-best 34 steals (Skyy Clark has totaled 23), having registered 1.9 steals per game in 18 contests as a senior

Prediction

USC coach Eric Musselman is new to the Big Ten and new to playing Wisconsin, but he perfectly encapsulated why this version of the Badgers is giving teams headaches.

“It’s really hard to rotate when you have all red shooters out there,” Musselman lamented. “When they go in the first 7 of 15 (from three), you have to stay attached to the shooters … It’s the first team we’ve played, including Iowa, that we felt had five guys who can all make a three whether they had their starters in or their subs. So you give and take something. You can’t take away the three and the dribble drive unless you are a great defensive team in the NBA. You got to decide what you’re going to do.”

“When you come into a game, you do have to game plan for their leading scorer. Well, he has zero points. I can’t plug 99 holes in a 40-minute game. I’d love to, but I’m not that smart.”

Tonje was held scoreless for the first time in his Wisconsin career, but the Badgers were leading by 15 points at halftime and calmly rebuilt that lead after the Trojans made things interesting in cutting the deficit to three. Blackwell had 28, Klesmit had 18, UW’s starting frontcourt combined for 22 on 9-for-11 shooting, and the bench contributed 17 points and seven assists. Without Tonje’s 18.2 ppg, the Badgers averaged 1.254 points per possession.

“It shows leadership,” Blackwell said. “When Tonje is not scoring, the next man up steps up.”

The Bruins are offensively comparable to the Trojans. Both are separated by 1.23 points in scoring average and 0.4 points in adjusted offensive efficiency, but the Bruins are far superior defensively. UCLA has the top-scoring defense in the conference at 63.72 points per game and is ranked 12th nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency. Despite ranking ninth in the league in field goal defense and 12th in three-point defense, the Bruins play a slower tempo (260th nationally) to limit possessions. The Bruins held Iowa on Friday to 70 points (the second-fewest of the season for the league’s top-scoring team), only 1.148 points per possession, and 38.1 shooting percentage in the first half, leading to a 33-point halftime edge.

UCLA coach Mick Cronin has made headlines recently with his comments railing against the conference’s scheduling and the challenges his team is having with traveling to road games and unbalanced days off. But Cronin was blunt with his team entering the Iowa game, saying that they haven’t adequately adjusted to the play in the league compared to the old Pac-12.

“We have struggled in Big Ten basketball,” Cronin said. “Our two wins were against teams we were familiar playing against (Oregon and Washington). The truth of it is, Big Ten basketball is different. It’s a much more physical game.”

UCLA has struggled to defend without fouling (295th nationally in fouls per game (18.5)), isn’t great at rebounding, (averaging a league-worst 22.11 per game), and has struggled guarding pick-and-roll actions

This game sets up well for Wisconsin defensively and should allow the Badgers to expose some things offensively. And considering Tonje is too good of a player to get shutout in consecutive games, the Badgers have a great chance to complete the LA sweep.

Worgull’s Prediction: Wisconsin by seven

Record: 15-3 (13-5 ATS)

Points off Prediction: 149 (8.3 per game)

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Wisconsin

Nebraska Women’s Basketball Hammers Wisconsin, Wins Fifth Straight

Published

10 hours ago

January 20, 2025

Press Room

Nebraska Women’s Basketball Hammers Wisconsin, Wins Fifth Straight

Nebraska women’s basketball left no doubt Monday night.

Despite the frigid temperatures outside, the Huskers were red-hot inside Pinnacle Bank Arena in a 91-60 shellacking of Wisconsin. NU improved to 15-4 on the year and 6-2 in the Big Ten Conference while UW fell to 10-9 overall and 1-7 in the league.

Nebraska started the game iffy on the offensive end, needing to scrap in the back-and-forth affair. But a 6-0 run put the Big Red up late in the first quarter.

Wisconsin started the second quarter with back-to-back buckets, tying the game at 18. That’s when Nebraska unleashed hell on the visitors.

The Huskers rattled off an 18-1 and held the Badgers scores for a five-minute stretch. The game was never in doubt the rest of the way as the Big Red cruised to the 31-point victory.

The biggest difference in the game came from beyond the arc, as Nebraska fired off a barrage from deep. NU made 16-of-32 3s while the Badgers managed just 3-of-17 from deep.

Eight different Huskers made a triple in the contest, with Jessica Petrie, Britt Prince, and Kendall Moriarty all making a trio of shots from deep.

Nebraska shot 54.2% for the game, adding 11-of-12 free throws. Wisconsin made 37.9% of their shots, chipping in 7-of-11 from the line.

Moriarty scored a team-high 17 points off the bend. Also coming off the bench, Petrie added 15 points, seven rebounds, and three assists.

In total, Nebraska scored 35 bench points. The Huskers also had assists on 27 of their 32 made shots.

Big Ten Freshman of the Week Prince scored 14 points, adding seven rebounds, three teals, two assists, and no turnovers in 25 minutes of work.

Alexis Markowski grabbed seven rebounds, passing All-American and Husker Hall of Famer Jodan Hooper (2011-14) for No. 3 on Nebraska’s career rebound list. Markowski is up to 1,112, just two shy of Emily Cady (2012-25) for No. 2 on the list. The record holder is Janet Smith (1979-82) with 1,280 rebounds.

Nebraska stays home Sunday to host No. 12 Ohio State. Tip from Pinnacle Bank Arena is slated for 2 p.m. CST on B1G+.

Box score | Photos

MORE: Nebraska Women’s Basketball Just Outside of Associated Press Top 25 Rankings

MORE: Associated Press Top 25 Features Six Big Ten Men’s Programs

MORE: Michigan State, Purdue Flex the Big Ten’s Muscles

MORE: Nebraska’s Britt Prince Earns Big Ten Freshman of the Week

MORE: 2027 4-Star Athlete Ty Keys Calls Nebraska Football Offer a ‘Confidence Booster’

Stay up to date on all things Huskers by bookmarking Nebraska Cornhuskers On SI, subscribing to HuskerMax on YouTube, and visiting HuskerMax.com daily.

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Wisconsin

Missing Apple Valley pizza delivery driver’s car found in Wisconsin

Published

17 hours ago

January 20, 2025

Press Room

Missing Apple Valley pizza delivery driver’s car found in Wisconsin

Search continues for missing pizza delivery driver

01:56

MINNEAPOLIS — The car of a missing 42-year-old Apple Valley pizza delivery driver has been found in Wisconsin, police say.

A witness told authorities they believe they saw Shuefuab “Shue” Xiong in the red Toyota Camry in Superior around 4 p.m. Saturday.

The Camry was found, unoccupied, by police in Superior on Sunday. Superior is around 170 miles north of Apple Valley.

Shuefuab Xiong had been driving a red Toyota Camry with a Minnesota plate CWT545.

Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension
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Police also say a friend of Xiong spoke to him in Roseville Saturday around 8 p.m. It’s unknown how he traveled from Superior to Roseville.

Investigators believe Xiong may be having a mental health crisis. He is not believed to be a threat to others, but authorities say he is known to carry a firearm and has a permit to carry.

Xiong reported to work at Domino’s in Apple Valley on Jan. 14, but didn’t make four scheduled deliveries.

He is described as 5 feet 8 inches tall and 215 pounds. He is bald and has a black mustache, black beard and brown eyes, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension says.

His family is offering a $20,000 reward for his safe return.

Anyone who has seen Xiong or knows his whereabouts is asked to call the Apple Valley Police Department 952-953-2700.

Note: The above video first aired on Jan. 17, 2025

Mental Health Resources: Crisis services are available around the clock if you or someone you care about is having a mental health crisis. Call **CRISIS (**274747) from a cell phone to talk to a team of professionals who can help you. Text “MN” to 741741. More info here.