'Let’s talk about the Nazis': Republican opposing paramilitary activity ban bill under fire

04 April 2024

Republican state lawmaker Laurel Libby stood up on the Maine House floor to support the Second Amendment rights and right of freedom of association of neo-Nazis in the Pine Tree State. Rep. Libby, strongly opposing a bill that would place a ban on paramilitary activity or groups working to cause civil disorder, on Wednesday called the legislation “unconstitutional.” 26 states currently have similar laws.

Neo-Nazi groups have been popping up in Maine. The bill Libby spoke against was in response to neo-Nazi events and issues over the past year.

“Let’s talk about the Nazis,” Libby says in a clip (below) posted by the Maine House Democratic Campaign Committee. “I would like to know what they did that was illegal. I would like to know what they did, in detail if folks would like to share, that was wrong, that infringed on another person’s right.”

“Holding a rally, and even holding a rally with guns, is not illegal,” Libby noted.

“We don’t have to like what said Nazis did,” Libby also said, according to Spectrum News. “We don’t have to like what they stand for. We don’t have to agree with their positions. We don’t have to think well of them. But you know what we do have to do? We have to protect their First Amendment right to free speech and association.”

“It’s is our duty to protect the Nazis’ right to free speech and association, as long as it does not infringe on someone else’s rights – as long as they are not harming someone else,” Libby said, as the Portland Press Herald added.

In the full version of her floor speech, which she posted to Facebook, Rep. Libby also argues the bill is unconstitutional on First Amendment grounds.

“The First Amendment gives us the right to free speech. Not just free speech, the right to association,” she said, adding, “we have the freedom to associate with others who have a similar political, religious, or cultural beliefs.”

The legislation comes after Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey realized last summer, when a reported neo-Nazi purchased land in Maine to set up a white supremacist training camp, there was no way to stop that activity.

“The bill, sponsored by Rep. Laurie Osher, D-Orono, is aimed at preventing any unauthorized paramilitary group from establishing a headquarters in Maine – something that Christopher Pohlhaus, a prominent neo-Nazi, said he was trying to do in the rural northern Maine town of Springfield last year. It also follows an increase in public displaysof white nationalism around the state, including hateful literature drops and public rallies,” the Portland Press Herald reported in February.

Despite Rep. Libby’s opposition, the legislation passed the Maine House, by one vote.

Last year, one neo-Nazi “group was seen in multiple locations in downtown Portland chanting, making Nazi salute gestures, and holding a sign that read: ‘Defend White Communities,'” NBC affiliate News Center Maine reported. “According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit dedicated to fighting hate, NSC-131 is a neo-Nazi group based in New England. The group is known to target LGBTQ+ communities, as well as Jewish and anti-fascist groups.”

Online, outrage over Libby’s remarks grew.

“This is the Republican Party in 2024,” said Democratic former Maine Speaker of the House, Ryan Fecteau.

Connecticut Democratic Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff commented, “What the actual $%#@? This is not normal. Vote to save democracy.”

Portland At-Large City Councilor April Fournier wrote: “Grateful to at least have the quiet part said out loud so Mainers and everywhere else can see LL for who she is.”

Maine Democratic state Rep. Amy Roeder said: “You ever been at work, just doing your job and enjoying the day when one of your coworkers stands up and asks why Nazis are so bad? No? Well, lemme tell ya ‘bout my day…”

Watch Rep. Libby’s remarks below or at this link.

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