Black History Month has been rudely interrupted twice now for Black Ohio residents. Weeks after a neo-Nazi demonstration, police say they gave a citation to a man for driving a historically Black neighborhood for a second round of racist trolling.
Hamilton County deputies say they were alerted by Lincoln Height’s neighborhood patrol about a man randomly throwing flyers from his car in the wee hours of Feb. 23. The neighborhood is a known historically Black town, per The Kansas City Star. Police didn’t specify what was on the flyers but described it as “hate speech” and “racist propaganda.”
The pamphlets appeared to come from the Trinity White Knights chapter of the Ku Klux Klan, per the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office. The man traveled from Lincoln Heights to Lockland where he was stopped by officers, per The Cincinnati Enquirer. Residents recorded a video of the officers confronting the man as they pulled a massive flag from his vehicle.
The flag had the words “Peace and Love” drawn on it. You know where residents claim the flag came from? Let’s take a few steps back to Feb 7: If you recall, a group of emboldened Black Ohio residents confronted a group of neo-Nazi’s demonstrating on a highway overpass.
In place of their swastika signage, residents handcrafted the “peace and love” sign to hang over the bridge following the incident, per KCS’s report. The Lincoln Heights neighborhood watch Facebook page slammed Bader for stealing the flag and claiming he had plans to burn it.
Also confiscated from the man’s car was a white sheet police said resembled that of the KKK uniform. Officers identified the man as 47-year-old William Bader. He was given a measly ticket for littering, officers said. However, the sheriff’s office also vowed to provide extra resources to Lincoln Heights for their safety, per The Enquirer.
“The Sheriff’s Office does not condone nor agree with hate speech that is proliferated by anyone, including Nazis and the KKK,” Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey said in a statement Sunday. “The Sheriff’s Office remains committed to working with the residents in the Village of Lincoln Heights to ensure their safety.”