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Collage of FB messages and golden bear logo

When a podcast titled “Whites of the Roundtable” is focused mainly on Central Ohio’s most prestigious old-money suburb Upper Arlington (UA), by railing against any affordable housing moving in, this old-money suburb probably has a white supremacy problem.

But it’s no laughing matter when on an invite-only and unsearchable Facebook group called “UA Golden Pride,” veiled threats are made against a UA Ohio House of Representative Democrat.

Or when UA’s most vocal right-winger takes his explosive anger to Facebook as UA Golden Pride cheers him on.

The Free Press wants to be clear, UA is not the Republican stronghold it once was even though it still has the lowest percentage of Black residents in metro Columbus.

In 2016 it went Clinton by 15 points (3,300 votes), and while the Free Press was unable to obtain 2020 presidential vote totals, Ohio House of Rep. Catherine Allison Russo, of UA’s District 24, won her re-election over Republican Pat Manley by 15 points (12,000 votes).

UA is jammed with million-dollar homes and good people. For some of them it’s win-at-all-costs, an attitude reflective of Ohio State’s football program.

Yet like Trump fomenting white nationalists nationwide, Upper Arlington has its own über white nationalist who’s inciting other UA ultra-conservatives.

He’s UA attorney Steven Thomas Druckenmiller, allegedly using the alias “Steve Drew” according to a Free Press source, as first reported by the Medium news site. His hobbies include doxing local Black Lives Matter protesters and picketing Juneteenth celebrations, which he did this year during a UA teacher event for students.

“Steve Drew” wanted to pursue legal action against Medium, but then oddly embraced the article so to “further dialogue,” stating on the Upper Arlington Discussion Forum Facebook page, “You’ve all probably read the Medium piece by now.”

Whomever he is at whatever moment, be it Drew or Druckenmiller, it’s the same ideas. He wrote this on the UA Golden Pride group page: “(We) need to start waging the culture war again. These people think it’s OK to turn our sons into women and our daughters into sex slaves.”

Luckily for the Free Press, UA Golden Pride has a mole, an anonymous lefty activist, and the Free Press will gladly forward screen shots of Golden Pride posts.

Druckenmiller refers to Golden Pride members as the “Boomerwaffen.” The posts the Free Press has seen are unabashed pro-police.

There are three types of Facebook groups – public, closed and secret, and the Boomerwaffen relished being secret and invite only. Indeed, one of the page’s admins claimed to have had an Upper Arlington police officer try to find the page but they couldn’t.

Post-election the Boomerwaffen soothed one another by releasing their anger. Some of their ports a bit alarming, including one regarding Rep. Catherine Allison Russo.

“Can anyone in this group tell me WHERE Catherine Allison Russo attends Sunday mass?” wrote a female Boomerwaffen not long after November 3rd. “As a cradle Catholic I am angry especially about Russo’s strong stand in favor of killing innocent unborn children. She lives near St. Agatha.”

And this from a Boomerwaffen responding to Druckenmiller who wanted to know more about a UA BLM protester: “Steve, saw this picture of her daughter in her public FB pics was at Tremont Elementary. Don’t know how old this pic is but this address would coincide with Tremont Elementary.”

The Free Press alerted Rep. Russo’s office to the threatening post and the Ohio Democratic Caucus was notified. The Free Press was then asked to forward the screenshot to Ohio House spokesperson Amber Epling. The Ohio State Highway Patrol, which investigates all threats made against Statehouse officeholders, soon became involved. The Free Press took a call from a state trooper.

Rep. Russo was asked to comment whether she had been confronted at church but she refused to respond.

Besides screenshots of UA Golden Pride posts, the mole also forwarded part of a podcast, a group discussion actually, with a focus towards UA. The title of the podcast is “Whites of the Roundtable.”

Several unnamed speakers are heard, and their conversation expresses how the Boomerwaffen are opposed to new mixed-used developments in UA. Mixed-use developments by the way have been built recently in UA and more are planned for UA’s main artery, Lane Avenue.

One speaker says, “These mixed-use plans introduce cheap housing and apartments.”

Someone interjects, “Introduces more ni##ers.”

The original speaker says, “One of the barriers for entry for ni##ers is they can’t fuckin’ afford to live here. So as soon as you get apartments in there, they will move in, they will get a Section 8 voucher for that bitch. And the next thing you know you got to deal with low-income ni##ers in your school.”

Oddly, the original speaker says it may be okay to allow high-income “black people” because maybe “their kids won’t be too much of a problem.”

Let us be clear again, there are good people in Upper Arlington. We are friends, co-workers and neighbors. There are also many white allies in UA, such as the group UA Progressive Action.

But those racist white nationalists so enamored with their self-obsessed “superiority” and so fearful of nonwhites moving into their self-perceived exclusive enclave need to be called out and banished by all UA residents who oppose such things, which is the majority.

The Free Press left a message for Druckenmiller at a phone number associated with him, but has not received a response.

But many of them no doubt have remained on the sidelines.

Dear good people of Upper Arlington, open your eyes and act.