Church bombing set off alarms over rise of white supremacists in Ohio

According to a report from Cleveland.com, a recent firebombing of a small-town church is setting off alarms that a rise in "do-it-yourself" white supremacist domestic terrorism is on the rise.

The report notes that Aimenn Penny was infuriated after watching coverage of a drag-queen storytime in France which led the member of White Lives Matter Ohio to attack a church in a small Geauga County town with Molotov cocktails for having similar plans.

According to the report, as Penny faces federal hate crime charges, Jonathan Lewis, a researcher at George Washington University’s Program on Extremism raised a red flag about the rise of extremism in the Buckeye state and beyond.

In an interview, he stated, "It paints a really disturbing picture of the state of domestic terrorism and domestic violent extremism in this country. I think that the case that was recently brought in in Ohio is, unfortunately, a really good indicator of the types of violent extremism bubbling to the surface today.”

According to Cleveland.com's Adam Ferrise's report, Lewis maintained, "Most white supremacists are no longer affiliated with organized groups, like the Proud Boys or Oath Keepers, he said. The new trend is groups that are very loosely affiliated. There’s no set hierarchy in the groups or membership dues. Meetings aren’t in person, but on apps like Discord, 4Chan and Telegram, among others."

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"The chatrooms stop just short of saying, ‘Hey go commit a hate crime tomorrow.' It’s basically do-it-yourself terrorism,” he explained.

The report adds, "The group [White Lives Matter Ohio] launched in April 2021. It is loosely affiliated with a nationwide group and uses Telegram to spread propaganda and disrupt drag shows like the one the Chesterland Church of Christ organized," adding, "The Anti-Defamation League report said there were 85 incidents of reported white supremacist propaganda efforts in Ohio in 2021 and 128 last year. Most of the efforts include dropping fliers at various locations, and the dominant group in Ohio in the last two years has been the Patriot Front."

According to Anti-Defamation League of Cleveland Director Kelly Fishman, "White Lives Matter had the most incidents in Ohio. We’re seeing crossover with certain groups and more participation in the groups.”

You can read more here.