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Alt-right promotional cards found in downtown Omaha

Posted at 2:46 PM, Sep 12, 2017
and last updated 2017-09-12 15:54:33-04

"I think Omaha should be a place where everyone should feel accepted," said Erin Bennett.  

People in downtown Omaha are shocked to learn about an effort to spread a message of hate using cards showing a swastika and the phrase "alt-right.'

"It shocks me but it sickens me and that's all I can say because it just the worst thing I can even imagine happening in this world," said Carol Zacek. 

The back of the card reads: "America was 90 percent white in 1950, now it's 60 percent. Make America great again."

Mayor Jean Stothert's Office says they received a tip to their hotline on Friday from a woman saying she found the card at a parking meter at 20th and Farnam. 

The Mayor's Office says this is the first complain of this nature that they have received. 

Roxanne Nielsen says she was alarmed and concerned when her 16-year-old granddaughter found one of the cards at the 10th Street overpass on Sunday.

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, there are five active hate groups in Nebraska. One of which, American Vanguard, has ties to the august Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville that spurred a counter-protest which turned deadly. 

Maggie Wood with Inclusive Communities says incidents like this are too big to let go, adding there needs to be a bigger dialogue that hate will not be accepted in our neighborhood. 

"I think there needs to be more conversation around this. The more that we ignore these things the more likely they are to happen," said Wood.