Extremists Co-opt Norfolk Southern Train Derailment in East Palestine, Ohio
At a February 25, 2023, demonstration outside Ohio Governor Mike DeWine’s residence in Bexley, Ohio, NJP leader Warren Balogh asked, “Why did it even take so long for them [government] to notice this? Why did it take so long for the national media to notice it? We know why…It’s because they are white people. They are white people in East Palestine.”
During an Ohio NJP event, group leader Michael McKevitt used the derailment to falsely claim that predominantly Black communities get more attention than predominantly white communities during environmental disasters. McKevitt compared the government responses to the derailment in East Palestine, a community which NJP considers to be predominantly white, to the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, a community which NJP considers to be predominantly Black. He said, “The federal government has since poured millions of dollars of aid into restoring Flint’s water resources, whereas East Palestine and the surrounding area have yet to receive any significant aid whatsoever.”
On February 15, 2023, NJP leaders Joseph Jordan and Michael McKevitt attended a town hall meeting in East Palestine, where they heckled officials during the question-and-answer session. Jordan and McKevitt argued that the government was trying to minimize the severity of the incident, while confronting U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson over the lack of government resources earmarked for East Palestine.
On February 25, 2023, NJP held events about the derailment in Ohio and in Georgia. In Ohio, approximately two dozen individuals protested outside of Ohio Governor Mike DeWine’s residences in Bexley and Cedarville, Ohio, with participants starting at the former and driving 60 miles to the latter. Various NJP leaders were in attendance, including Warren Balogh, Michael McKevitt, Tony Hovater and Alan Balogh. Notable NJP members Mike Peinovich and Joseph Jordan attended virtually via the event’s livestream. In speeches, members alleged the government is covering up the extent of the damages in East Palestine because they are “in the pockets” of the railroad company.
In Atlanta, Georgia, on the same day, approximately twelve individuals associated with the NJP protested outside of Norfolk Southern corporate headquarters, calling for the railroad company to nationalize and for their executives to be held accountable for the train derailment. One of NJP’s central tenets is the nationalization of large corporations, which they believe will “create public accountability and guarantee that they serve the nation first,” by which they mean “serve the interest of white people.”
The NJP also used the train derailment to highlight the long-standing white supremacist conspiracy that Jews run the government, and that government officials are being manipulated by both Norfolk Southern and Jews.
Outside Governor DeWine’s house in Bexley, Ohio, where Ukrainian and American flags hang side by side, Warren Balogh said, “If the war in Ukraine is so important, why don’t you go fight over there, DeWine? You oughta [sic] have a Ukrainian flag and a Norfolk Southern flag. Or better yet, an Israeli flag!”
During another speech, Alan Balogh said that if the chemical spill happened in Bexley, DeWine would have acted differently. Mike Peinovich mentioned during the livestream that Bexley is a “very Jewish neighborhood.” On the NJP website, the group posted a list of U.S. Rep. Johnson’s campaign donors, highlighting the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)’s contribution as “evidence” of Jewish influence.
NJP also pointed to the train derailment as “proof” of the failures of the mainstream Republican Party, which it refers to as “the party of Zionism.” The NJP alleges that Republican leaders, including DeWine and U.S. Congressmen Bill Johnson, are not advocating for their “true” constituents and are ignoring “the interests of white people.”
The article is published courtesy of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).
