Upper Sandusky, Ohio Condemns Local Nazi School!

Ohio city has a large Neo Nazi presence.

A city in Ohio has condemned a school that made the news this week. The school was featured in Vice, HuffPost and Buzzfeed. State leaders also weigh in.

Ohio is a state that has trended more Republican over the past 10 years. It has elected governors like John Kasich and Mike DeWine. It has picked far right extremists like Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH), Rep. Max Miller (R-OH), Rep. Bob Gibbs (R-OH), Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) and Bob Latta (R-OH).

The voters approved a constitutional amendment to have a fair redistricting of Ohio's U.S. Congressional Districts. The Republicans ignore that and carried forth a partisan gerrymandered map which gave Republicans 13 districts that favor them and two for the Democrats. 

Three Democrats represent Republican leaning districts.

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) faces a challenge in 2024. If the Republicans nominate a tolerable candidate they could defeat him. 

He has won in 2006, 2012 and 2018. The state sees him a center-left leaning senator. 

Ohio has 72% white population. Its population is declining. States like North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona and South Carolina are growing in Black and Latino populations. 

Ohio lost a congressional district due to slow population growth.

North Carolina will surpass Ohio in population in 2030.

Ohio has a population of 11.9 million while North Carolina has a population of 11.5 million.

The state went to Washed Up 45 in 2016 and 2020 by eight points each time.

Ohio has been always key to presidential elections. No longer. 

Ohio, Florida and Iowa may be out of reach for Democrats in presidential elections.

It may because white nationalists are settling in these states.

An Ohio couple accused of running a neo-Nazi home-schooling group on social media with 2,600 followers.

Antifascist researchers known as the Anonymous Comrades Collective first identified the couple, who participated in a neo-Nazi podcast under the names Mr. and Mrs. Saxon, as Logan and Katja Lawrence of Upper Sandusky in Wyandot County. The group’s work was the nexus for a story about the couple in Vice News.

Their Telegram channel, started on Oct. 23, 2021, is called Dissident-Homeschool. It features suggested content that is racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic, as well as factually inaccurate. It includes cursive practice sheets with quotes from Adolf Hitler, suggested content about Confederate General Robert E. Lee and civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., which included an unfounded conspiracy about Jewish people. The Telegram channel offers a suggested math lesson with a story problem attributing crime to different races.

Reading, writing and Adolf Hitler.

When the group reached 1,000 subscribers on Dec. 29, 2021, Katja Lawrence, writing as Mrs. Saxon, posted a picture of children giving the Hitler hand salute. “It fills my heart with joy to know there is such a strong base of homeschoolers and homeschool-interested national socialists. Hail Victory.”

The Ohio Department of Education said in a prepared statement that it is “actively reviewing compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements,” though it’s unclear if the review is on the Lawrence family or home schools in general.

Democrats in the Ohio General Assembly say the state’s home-schooling laws are relatively weak, which has allowed the couple to teach their children racist content, then share it with others.

“I applaud the efforts of citizen activists and journalists who have brought to light the efforts of neo-Nazi home-schoolers who are promoting a Nazi-infused curriculum for parents,” said Sen. Nickie Antonio, a Lakewood Democrat who is the chamber’s minority leader. “This type of hatred has no place in Ohio, nor its education system. I respect the rights of parents to determine their children’s education, which can include home schooling. However, we need to carefully examine how we currently regulate home school curriculum.”

Tucked into Senate Bill 1, a massive piece of legislation that would overhaul the Ohio Department of Education and gut the Ohio State Board of Education, is a provision that would make it harder for the state to regulate home schools. Under the bill, home school rules would have to be changed via legislation instead of through the state’s rulemaking process.

The Home School Defense League Association asked for the provision, said Sen. Andrew Brenner, chairman of the Ohio Senate Primary and Secondary Education Committee, when the bill was new.

“We need to ensure that home schooling is not an opportunity for parents to systemically teach their children hatred,” said Sen. Catherine D. Ingram, a Cincinnati Democrat who is the ranking member on the Senate education committee, in a Monday statement.