It is the reason I left for a long time- I was told I had to play nice with the Nazis or be banned... I refused to accept that.

The working theory at the time was it was better to give the monsters a forum where community might pull them back from their extremism, or- failing that- the community could keep an eye on them.

How did that work out?

The 'totally not bigoted' conservatives embraced the neo-nazi at a distance, they defended him: 'sure some of what he says is offensive but he makes some valid points...' or 'Just because he violently hates other races and thinks they do not have a right to exist in our country, that doesn't make him a NAZI ... actually Marxists are closer to being Nazis than he is...' (I am sure you know who I am paraphrasing here, but I can provide screenshots if you want)

Their embrace of him grew closer and more passionate over time... by 2019 - after they ran away from the zone- some of them went on to join white nationalist groups advocating for genocide.

All that was accomplished by playing fair with the NAZI was the zone drove away people that refused to tolerate that malignant evil stupidity. I don't think he radicalized the conservatives here- I think they were bigots from the start- they were just smart enough to not say the quiet part out loud.

My great uncle shot Nazis, at the very least we shouldn't be normalizing them now.

Instead of declaring a societal war against views like 'replacement theory', we looked away- ignoring it in hopes it would pass... naive well meaning liberals thought that by approaching these monsters with reason and kindness and community they could be 'saved'. Mercenary conservatives saw the monsters as useful tools to do their dirty work.

As a result we have countless innocent Americans dead because as a nation we tolerated the monsters... and now the monsters are taking over.

The proper response should have been: 'Sure, you have a first amendment right to say these insane dangerous bigoted things, but you do not have the right to say it on our forum. When you do say these things we have the right to hold you responsible for it. We have no constitutional mandate to give you a forum, to offer you community, to treat you with kindness... we have the right and responsibility to make your life a living hell in every legal way available to us- to publicly expose and humiliate you at every opportunity- to remind you and others that might be tempted to emulate you that WE - as a society- refuse to accept this evil. You have violated the social contract and we are not required to afford you the courtesies, or social niceties reserved for civilized human beings. IF we allow you to speak on our forum it is only so that you may give us the rope we need to hang you.'

THAT is how you deal with Nazis in a civilized society.

You don't hold the door open for barbarians intent on ransacking your home because it is the polite and genteel thing to do- you spit on them and slam the door in their face.