Patriot Front Out at Drag Storytime Protest in Ohio

Members of nationalist group Patriot Front marched near the venue of a cancelled 'Holi-Drag Storytime' event in Columbus, Ohio on Saturday. The event was cancelled shortly before its scheduled start Saturday morning, with organizers citing disagreements over security and police arrangements as the reason for calling the event off.

The Patriot Front group's arrival occurred a little over an hour after the scheduled start of the drag storytime, where Columbus Proud Boys were holding a demonstration outside First Unitarian Universalist Church and nearby along North High Street. Some of the Proud Boys accused the Patriot Front group of being federal agents upon their arrival, and ultimately the groups remained nearby but separate as demonstrations continued into the afternoon.

Various groups then gathered down the street from the church along the busier North High Street, where a group of pro-LGBTQ and Black Lives Matter counter-protesters had also gathered in support of the event. Some verbal exchanges were made between opposing groups, though no major altercations occurred. All eventually dispersed early Saturday afternoon.