After the group was revealed, politicians across Ohio, including Governor Mike DeWine, spoke out against it. But the town of Upper Sandusky has been strangely quiet, and some residents even allege that there has been a concerted campaign to try and silence those speaking out about the Nazi homeschool revelations, and a long and deep-rooted normalization of racism. VICE News spoke to more than a dozen residents and former residents of Upper Sandusky about the Lawrences and the town’s relative silence. Many of these residents knew the Lawrences personally; some of them graduated high school with Logan Lawrence, some of them worked with Katja Lawrence, and one individual was at the Lawrences’ wedding. The Lawrences were a couple who “knew everyone and everyone knew them,” one resident told VICE News, adding that there is little chance that the Lawrences were alone in their beliefs.“They have friends in the community,” another resident who requested anonymity told VICE News. “They've done business in the community. And so somewhere along the line, one would imagine, that they talk to people who are friends with them in the community and there may be some like-minded people around them. The Lawrences knew everyone, and everyone knew them.”“Logan has always been an asshole and the people who know him aren’t shocked.”
Logan Lawrence was photographed at multiple Halloween parties in blackface and other racist costumes. (Photos from the Facebook page of the Shotzy's Bar and Grill restaurant in Upper Sandusky)
“While there has been a strong response outside of Upper, the community has had minimal reactions,” one resident who requested anonymity, told VICE News. “The response from city officials has been extremely limited with many acting indifferent to things. However, the same day the news [about the Nazi homeschool group] came out, there was a flurry of postings on Facebook warning about an African American man going door to door selling vacuums. Priorities, I suppose.”“The Lawrences knew everyone, and everyone knew them.”
Logan Lawrence served on his high school's student council in Upper Sandusky (photo from his yearbook).
“Looking back on it now there were some red flags [about Logan], but realistically, I mean everybody in town has a red flag,” Lange said.Lange, Lawrence’s “locker buddy,” remembers he wasn’t particularly interested in school, but was uniquely fascinated with lessons on World War II.
April, whose real name has been withheld due to concerns about safety and community blowback, only had a couple of interactions with the couple, including one time when she said Katja Lawrence ridiculed the appearance of her house because she had placed plastic over the windows during the winter to keep the wind out.“Who am I passing at Walmart that has the secret agenda to their life at home just because of the color of my skin? That's what makes me nervous, that it was hiding in plain sight.”
A history of racism
Local silence
The biggest Facebook group in the town, which has as many members as the town’s entire population, refused to post VICE News’ article. One user tried to post the piece, but was denied. A VICE News post seeking comment from Upper Sandusky residents was deleted by the administrators of the account, who did not respond to repeated attempts to contact them for comment.In another Facebook group, a private homeschool group that Katja Lawrence was a member of, posted a statement condemning the actions of the Lawrences without naming them specifically.However, in screenshots viewed by VICE News, some members of the Facebook group criticized the statement and defended the Lawrences, calling it “a hateful and judgemental statement against a family being attacked by cowards.”One user continued to defend the Lawrences, writing that “at best, [the journalists and researchers] identified someone who has an educational focus on cultural heritage and race-pride.”“People aren't as angry about it as I want them to be.”
Another photograph of Logan Lawrence wearing a racist costume at the Shotzy's Bar and Grill restaurant in Upper Sandusky. (Photo from Facebook)
