A man who checked out of a country library in Ohio 100 books on Jewish history, African-American history and LGBTQ education may have used them in a book burning that he filmed and posted on social media.
The man went into the Beachwood branch of the Cuyahoga County public library system on April 2 and applied for a library card. He then used the card to check out 50 books, following proper library procedure, according to local reports.
The population of Beachwood a northeast Ohio suburb of Cleveland, is nearly 90% Jewish.
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Beachwood branch of the Cuyahoga Public Library
(Photo: Beachwood Pubic Library website)
The next day he posted a photo to social media of his car trunk filled with the books, all bearing a sticker from the library, and said in the caption that he was "cleansing" the library of what he considered objectionable works.
A week later he visited the library and took out 50 more books on similar topics. A librarian told local media that she found his behavior to be “odd and concerning,” but said that he did not make any threats.
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He later posted a video on the Gab social media platform, known as a platform used by "conspiracy theorists, white nationalists, neo-Nazis, members of militias and influential figures among the alt right," according to the Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism. At least one of the books bore a sticker of the county library system, and the titles of the books that were burned appeared to match the titles of the books that were borrowed from the library.
The 100 books were valued at approximately $1,700.
The library book have not yet come due. When they do, the library will bill the man to recover the value if he fails to return them.
The man reportedly will be banned from the library property.