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Ohio National Guard Member Under Investigation For 'White Supremacist Ideology'

KRISTI BLOKHIN/SHUTTERSTOCK

An unnamed member of the Ohio National Guard has been suspended from duty after the FBI alleged the soldier expressed "white supremacist ideology" online, according to Governor Mike DeWine. Ohio Public Radio's Andy Chow reports.

DeWine says the Ohio National Guard member was among the 100 soldiers on assignment in Washington, D.C. to assist in securing the demonstrations as people protest the death of George Floyd and the deaths of other black people by police. The soldier was suspended when the FBI says it discovered he expressed white supremacist views online before the assignment began.

Details of the allegation were not released. DeWine says the guard member will likely be removed if the allegations are confirmed by the FBI.

"There is no place in the Ohio National Guard for someone who feels that way and who expresses those opinions," says DeWine.

DeWine says the Ohio National Guard and Ohio Department of Public Safety will work on a system to identify this kind of behavior and ideology in the future.  

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