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Ohio Democrats Introduce a Bill to List Hate Groups as Terrorists

photo of Rep. David LeLand
OGT
/
OHIO CHANNEL

Democrats in the state Legislature are supporting a new bill that would officially denounce white nationalists and neo-Nazis.

Democratic Rep. David Leland’s bill would recognize white nationalists, neo-Nazis and white supremacist groups as terrorist organizations. And it would direct police to track those groups, as they do other similar ones.

“These people are terrorists, and we need to treat them as such and we need to call them out.”

Democrats will need help from majority Republicans to pass the bill. There’s no word yet on whether they will do that. 

But in a written statement, Rob Secour of the Ohio Republican Party says white supremacy has no place in our country. He quoted President Trump saying,”It is time to come together as Americans with love for our nation and true affection for each other.”

Jo Ingles is a professional journalist who covers politics and Ohio government for the Ohio Public Radio and Television for the Ohio Public Radio and Television Statehouse News Bureau. She reports on issues of importance to Ohioans including education, legislation, politics, and life and death issues such as capital punishment. Jo started her career in Louisville, Kentucky in the mid 80’s when she helped produce a televised presidential debate for ABC News, worked for a creative services company and served as a general assignment report for a commercial radio station. In 1989, she returned back to her native Ohio to work at the WOSU Stations in Columbus where she began a long resume in public radio.