An apparent group of neo-Nazis marched through the Short North on Saturday afternoon yelling racial slurs through megaphones. Dwight Holland called the police, thinking they could stop it. “I would like to know how a hate group is able to amass on High Street and walk at least 10 blocks, no police presence whatsoever and yelling hate speech,” Holland said. However, their actions were protected through freedom of speech, according to Mark Weaver, an attorney who specializes in the First Amendment. “Hate speech, however you define it, has been held to be completely protected by the Supreme Court and that was all the justices agreeing with it, so it was not a close call. Hate speech is protected by the First Amendment,” Weaver said. He said people cannot be prosecuted for their words alone unless they include a direct threat or engage in violence. “A direct threat is when someone says to another person, ‘I am about to commit an act of violence against you’ and that is a crime, but saying, ‘I wish all people born in Antarctica would die’ that is a low character wish, that is not a threat and it is not criminal,” Weaver said, as an example. “When the government has the ability to outlaw speech, there is greater danger than when we allow people to say hateful things. The history of the world shows when government can shut people up, they will use violent means to do so and America has set a different course.” He said it is possible they could face charges for disorderly conduct for using megaphones and creating a disturbance, but not for the content of what they said. However, now that police say they have obtained video evidence of the neo-Nazis using pepper spray, that could change things. “If there is evidence and victims that would cooperate with the police to build cases of assault or something in the criminal realm, please work with police because my office stands ready to prosecute those to the full extent of the law,” said City Attorney Zach Klein. Klein said he has been working with Columbus police to build a case. “This is about as vile as it comes, so this is why I want our community to know I know folks are scared, they are troubled and upset, but I have their back and if there is a way for us to prosecute those individuals if it crosses from free speech into criminal conduct, we will hold them accountable,” Klein said. Klein said police monitored the situation on Saturday, but they were not able to step in for their use of hate speech alone. Columbus police detained members of the group on Goodale Street but they were released. No arrests have been made.