By RICHARD ESSEX
WISH-TV | wishtv.com
According to the Moms for Liberty website, the group advocates for parental rights.
Members can be found in the Statehouse and local school board meetings.
On Thursday, the chapter in Hamilton County learned a lesson in history.
Miles Nelson, the Democratic candidate for mayor in Carmel, told I-Team 8 that “as a father, as a Jew, as a resident of Carmel, as just a human being, it makes me angry and makes me concerned.”
In a newsletter that was posted to the group’s Facebook page, on the upper right-hand portion of the page with a gray background was a quote from former German dictator Adolf Hitler.
The Moms for Liberty in Hamilton County have deleted the Facebook post and removed any reference of the quote from their public-facing social media pages.
Late Thursday morning, Paige Miller, the chapter chair for Moms for Liberty Hamilton County, IN, sent I-Team 8 a statement: “We condemn Adolf Hitler’s actions and his dark place in human history. We should not have quoted him in our newsletter and we express our deepest apology.”
By the time the quote was taken down, it’d made the rounds on social media.
Nelson says he first encountered Moms for Liberty in Hamilton County during a contentious school board election. “I certainly know of them. I have seen them. I have heard their hate speech.”
The Hamilton County chapter of the Moms for Liberty is being monitored by the Southern Poverty Law Center for what it calls “anti-government behavior.”
The law center says Moms for Liberty is one of 29 antigovernment and hate groups it has tracked in Indiana.
State Sen. JD Ford, a Democrat, represents a portion of Hamilton County. He sent a statement to the News 8 newsroom on Thursday morning: “The fact that Moms for Liberty felt comfortable quoting Adolf Hitler in their first newsletter is telling. This group is spearheading the effort to ban books in the name of ‘protecting children’ yet they’re quoting one of the most reprehensive and evil fascists in history. It’s disgusting and indefensible.”
Nelson has called for all elected officials in Hamilton County to condemn the actions of Moms for Liberty. “There is only one right answer here and that is to say this is wrong.”
Late Thursday afternoon, Hamilton County Republican Party Chairman Mario Massillamany sent a statement to I-Team 8: “I think Adolf Hitler is terrible, and I would never quote Adolf Hitler or the Nazis in any shape or form other than saying they are bad or terrible. That was a terrible page in our world history and I don’t think that we as a society can say enough about the atrocities that the poor Jewish had to go through.”