BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (WXIN) — Several neo-Nazis spouted out hatred and racist, antisemitic speech during a city council meeting in Bloomington last week, closing out comments with “Heil Hitler!” and “White power!”
Members of the Bloomington City Council and Mayor Kerry Thomson condemned the racism and white supremacy ideology spewed by the individuals, one of whom self-identified as a Nazi by stating, “I’ll take the label of Nazi if it means I love my people enough to stand against the genocide being perpetrated against us.”
Thomson said the horrid comments saddened her and made her furious.
“We are a community that can, and will, welcome all well,” the mayor said, urging Bloomington citizens to speak up when they hear hatred being spewed.
The hate speech was made during public comment portions of an April 3 meeting where the city council was voting to pass a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. Dozens of citizens showed up to speak on the controversial, international issue with some speaking in person and others adding public comments remotely via Zoom.
The hatred and white supremacy was spewed forth from speakers who did not attend the meeting in person and instead spouted out their hateful rhetoric from the confines of undisclosed homes in undisclosed places while giving out names that could not be confirmed to be their real identities.
One even gave his name as “Jim Adkisson,” the name of a white man who shot up a Tennessee church, killing two people, because he hated the church’s “liberal views.”
“It’s really easy to spew that kind of rhetoric without looking any of us in the eye… your cowardice is noted,” said Council member Sydney Zulich.
After one of the commentators finished off a tirade of white supremacist views, the crowd erupted into boos when he ended his speech with a call of “Heil Hitler” and “White power.”
The meeting ended up lasting more than five hours with the resolution finally voted on near midnight. The council passed the ceasefire resolution with a 9-0 vote.
The mayor took to Facebook to condemn the hate speech heard during the meeting and to call on citizens of Bloomington to stand up against hatred.
“We need our Black and brown and Jewish and Muslim neighbors to feel safe here,” she said. “And to be safe here.”
“Freedom of speech will stand in our city, but we do not need to be silent in the face of hatred,” she added.
