The Invasion Of New Albany, Ohio

       Donald Trump warned that they'd be coming to invade the suburbs. 
      For the upscale Columbus, Ohio suburb of New Albany that dire prediction came true over the weekend when they invaded the town.
     Except that this "they" turned out not to be the dreaded "they" that Donald Trump had been referring to; Last Saturday New Albany, Ohio was invaded by none other than...the Proud Boys.  

     Now, for those who are still a little foggy on exactly who and what the Proud Boys are after Donald Trump's shout-out to them during the Presidential candidates' debate last week, 

...which has energized and empowered them and put them in ascendance, 

...the Proud Boys are, according to Wikipedia, "a far-right, neo-fascist, and male-only organization affiliated with white supremacists that promotes and engages in political violence. It is based in the United States and also has a presence in Canada...The group can be described as violent, nationalistic, Islamophobic, transphobic and misogynistic."  The FBI has labeled the Proud Boys an extremist group with ties to white nationalism and the Southern Poverty Law Center has named them a hate group. It was a former Proud Boy who organized the White Supremacist Neo-Nazi "Unite the Right" march in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017.

     That being said, there are nonetheless some Black members of the Proud Boys as well as a sub-group who call themselves the Proud Boys' Girls. Go figure.

      As for New Albany, Ohio, this is a small, family-friendly town distinctive for its mostly red-brick Georgian-style architecture, where the streets are nice,

...the parks and meadows are nice,

...the schools are nice,

...and all the school buildings are on the same campus.

   The houses are nice,

...the mansions are nice,

...including that of Les Wexner, founder of The Limited.

       Even the New Albany police station is nice.

    The people who live there love New Albany. The people who don't live there love New Albany. 
     In 2015 and again in 2018 Business Insider named New Albany the best suburb in America.   
     And last Saturday it was upon this idyllic little spot on the map that the Proud Boys swooped for a pro-Trump rally and protest against...well, anything that wasn't pro-Trump.
​      The Proud Boys started out with the rally, a Trump-Train parade of vehicles through downtown. 
     Next they took to the streets of New Albany, wearing their signature black and gold Fred Perry polo shirts,

...chanting, singing, and shouting through bullhorns;

...flashing their White Power symbol;

...carrying banners and signs and waving flags,

...including the flag of Israel.

    I don't know what the significance of the Israeli flag was, unless it was a reference to the sizable Jewish population living in New Albany.
​      After their march the Proud Boys lingered in the square, 

...then perambulated to the park for a group photo op. 

    And for all the noise and spectacle the Proud Boys brought to the town of New Albany last Saturday afternoon, as it turned out, except for the Proud Boys themselves, the streets of New Albany were empty that day.
        It seems that the Mayor of New Albany had alerted the populace to avoid the Proud Boys rally and protest and they did.
          As one Proud Boy summed it up through his bull horn:

      "They knew we were coming. They didn't show. They know they would lose. They send out their photographers and their doxers (journalists). Because they're scumbags."
          And so, except for members of the press and a few sympathetic drivers-by, 

...the Proud Boys ended up entertaining only themselves.

      However later that day, after the Proud Boys had scattered and slithered back to from whence they'd originated, the citizens of New Albany returned to their streets and a couple of youngsters made a small but powerful statement  of their own.

     And New Albany remains a nice place.

References:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzz0L_KL1pg
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https://blog.jasonopland.com/new-albany-ohio-is-the-best-suburb-in-america/

https://newalbanycompany.com/new-albany-named-in-usa-todays-2019-best-cities-to-live-list/

https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=New%20Albany%2C%20&epa=SEARCH_BOX

https://abc6onyourside.com/news/local/2-protests-in-new-albany-on-saturday

https://craigcalcaterra.com/blog/the-proud-boys-come-to-new-albany/amp/?__twitter_impression=true&fbclid=IwAR01rIZ4Cdn6cq3m00xC8B7D6nnc_ZCvDKygFpAT972P1EauGwJ8HpGHROI
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