(This story was updated to accurately reflect the most current information.)
Columbus police are responding after reports of armed people dressed as Nazis marching on the city’s North Side.
Several videos began popping up around 1:15 p.m. Saturday on social media of about a dozen people, one with a bullhorn, wearing all black with red facemasks and carrying black flags with red swastikas on them in the Short North.
Police responded at 1:12 p.m. to a report from a caller who said that one of the people in the group sprayed pepper spray or mace at a passerby. Callers also reported the group was using racial slurs toward people of color on the street, shouting about Jewish people and white power and appeared to be armed, police dispatchers said.
At 2:18 p.m., a Reddit user posted photos of what appeared to be Columbus police handcuffing a bearded person dressed in black behind a U-Haul van at the onramp to State Route 315 and West Goodale Street. Police dispatchers could not immediately confirm whether officers had arrested anyone.
As of about 2:45 p.m., police dispatchers told The Dispatch that officers were still at the scene and monitoring the situation. As of about 3:15 p.m., the group was reported to have been in Franklinton.
In a statement posted at 3:10 p.m. on X, formerly known as Twitter, City Attorney Zach Klein said: “To those involved in the neo-Nazi march in the Short North today, take your flags and the masks you hide behind and go home and never come back. Your hate isn’t welcome in our city.”
As of 4 p.m. police dispatchers could not confirm whether officers had arrested anyone, and a Columbus police spokesperson had not responded to a Dispatch reporter’s call seeking more information.
This story will be updated.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Neo-Nazis carrying Swastika flags march through Columbus Saturday
