With the weekend’s events in Charlottesville, it feels important to note the organized hate that exists in the world. Recently, a white supremacist group dropped literature in Clintonville, further confirming that there’s no benefit in ignoring or assuming this hatred hasn’t spread everywhere.
The Southern Poverty Law Center publishes a Hate Map, noting which organizations are operating where. Here are the groups the SPLC says are operating out of Columbus. Note that there are many groups not included here that are said to operate state wide.
The Daily Stormer, Worthington
The Daily Stormer is a white supremacist and neo-Nazi website based in Worthington. The founder of the site, Andrew Anglin, grew up in Worthington, where he was known as an outspoken liberal and vegan, but his current whereabouts are unknown, according to this lengthy profile that appeared in Columbus Alive. The site’s address is an office in Worthington (6827 N. High St. Suite 121) that Anglin’s father Greg Anglin owns. Greg runs the PO box for the Daily Stormer, cashing checks for his son. Anglin Sr. also operates a Christian counseling service called Morning Star Counseling out of the office. This business operates as a non-profit, because he got a minister’s license off the internet, according to these reviews which almost uniformly mention things like “He tried to break up our marriage” and “He knows how to manipulate people and has a weakness for attractive women.” Andrew spent his teenage years literally smacking his head against concrete and walls in his home, which explain how he’s come to this as much as anything else I’ve read (although he credits Alex Jones and Infowars.) That early fondness for conspiracy theories didn’t spare Alex, as Anglin eventually sent his readers after him for having a Jewish wife.
To make it clear, and to sum up, this is the largest hate site in America, and it runs out of central Ohio. (And pay no attention to this NSFW video where Anglin is in the Phillipines and opens by saying “Ok, so I’m here at this Filipino mall with my jailbait girlfriend…”) PROBABLY JUST KIDDING AROUND
Mission: America, Columbus
Mission: America is a Columbus anti-LGBTQ website that operates as a 501(c)(3) non-profit. Founder Laura Harvey can be found peddling her brand of absurdity on Columbus Christian radio station “The Word” 880AM and 104.5 FM.
Some of Harvey’s contributions to culture include being the nitwit who helped make Christian parents terrified of Harry Potter, saying things like:
For years now, some of us have been decrying the Harry Potter tales, saying they were not for children. They dishonor God, they glamorize sorcery, and the spirit surrounding the series is dark, sinister and anti-Christian.
She also thinks gays should not teach in public schools, that gays do not actually exist (saying “There is no proof that there’s ever anything like a gay, lesbian or bisexual or transgendered child, or teen or human”), and that gay rights activists are “masters of demonic manipulation.”
Sadly, in today’s environment, Harvey’s brand of nuttery looks sort of quaint. Her grift doesn’t seem terribly lucrative, reporting only $23,000 and change in revenue as of 2011.
Pass the Salt Ministries, Hebron
Hebron’s Pass the Salt Ministries is an LGBTQ hate organization operated by a failed youth football coach named David Daubenmire who still bills himself as “Coach Dave” anyway. He was forced to step down as a coach after forcing his public school players to pray with him, which led to his employer having to settle a lawsuit with the ACLU. He tried to make a comeback at Lakewood High School 14 years later, but the community revolted, sending a petition with 4,000 signatures against his hire to the school board.
Some of his greatest hits include a belief that the anti-bullying movement is a product of the “homosexual agenda”, and he’s also repeatedly claimed that Barack Obama was secretly gay, which naturally landed him numerous television appearances.
The man seems obsessed with homosexuality, and seems to discuss little else.
A totally unrelated thought I just had: so much of the world’s ills come from repression and people denying their true selves. Weird, I know, kind of a non-sequitur, just something that came to mind for some unknown reason.
Anyway, Daubenmire has presided over a group called Minutemen United, which likes to picket churches it thinks are too soft on gays:
One of Ohio’s largest churches, Vineyard Columbus, went to court Tuesday to stop protesters from a Christian group called Minutemen United from picketing outside its building over how it handles hot-button issues such as abortion and homosexuality – even though both groups are on the same side in terms of opinion on the issues.
Daubenmire’s son Zach Daubenmire was convicted of child pornography possession in 2007 and was forced to resign his teaching position at Licking Heights, so you know, rest assured this is a generally healthy family.
Israel United In Christ, Heath
This is a black separatist group that believes African-Americans and not Jews are descended from the Hebrews in the Bible. These are the crackpots who show up at events like Pride and do a little “street preaching”, i.e. screaming at passers by with their megaphones.
The group is virulently anti-semitic, they oppose integration and inter-racial marriage, and they’re also anti-LGBTQ.
Old Glory Knights of the Ku Klux Klan
The only Klan in Ohio that SLPC puts into their list makes their headquarters in Vincent, Ohio, but it’s presumed that the Klan is active throughout the state.
Misc:
The SPLC also tracks anti-government groups, and notes that there are 52 organized militias or sovereign-citizen groups in Ohio. Many of these are county chapters of Ohio Minutemen Militia.
We’ll update this list as we become aware of more groups. Know of any hate groups in Central Ohio we should add to the list? Contact us.
