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WEBVTT CAMILLE A HAS THE BIG STORY. >> JULIE, ROB, CLEARLY YOU CAN'T SEE WHO WAS POSING WITH THE FLAG, BUT THE GROUP IT REPRESENTS CERTAINLY SHY AT LEAST NOT ON SOCIAL MEDIA. THE WHITE NATIONAL I HAVE THE ORGANIZATION HAS A PRESENCE TIED TO 11 DIFFERENT STATES ON IT'S WEBSITE, INCLUDING NEBRASKA AND A POST FROM THE NEBRASKA CHAPTER, A PHOTO TAKEN RIGHT HERE INSIDE THAT HAS AT TRAX OF THIS NEIGHBORHOOD. >> POSTED ON ELECTION DAY TO A TWITTER WITH THIS LESS THAN 30 FOLLOWERS. VAN GUARD, NEBRASKA. >> I DON'T ASSOCIATE IN GROUP WITH POLITICS. THIS IS A HATE GROUPY AND ASSOCIATE THEM WITH VIOLENCE AND INTIMIDATION. >> TH TWITTER ACCOUNT SAYS THEY'RE QUOTE THE SCARIEST WHITE NATIONAL I HAVE THE GROUP IN NEBRASKA, POSTING THINGS LIK IMAGINE A MUSLIM FREE AMERICA. WHEN ABIGAIL SAW T PHOTO THEY SNAPPED IN HER BAR, ONE NOW A BANNER ON THE GROUP'S NATIONAL WEBSITE >> IT MADE ME SICK TO MY STOMACH. >> SHE KNEW SHE HAD TO REAC DENOUNCING THE GROUP AND ANY KIND OF RACISM. >> THAT'S THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF WHO WE ARE AND NOT WHAT REPRESENTS US AT ALL. >> THE POST GAINING MOMENTUM AFTER MEGAN HUNT SHARE IT TO HER PAGE EARLIER THIS WEEK. >> I BELIEVE IN HOLD LIN EACH OTHER ACCOUNTABLE AND BEING BETTER. THAT'S WHY I BELIEVE IN EXPOSING THINGS LIKE THIS. >> FOUR PEOP CONTACTED HER SAYING THEY WERE DUPED INTO POSING FOR THE PICTURE. >> THEY SAID MEGAN I'M IN THIS PHOTO AND I HAD NO IDEA THIS WAS A WHITE SUPREMACIST GROUP >> A WOMAN IN THE PHOTO TOLD HER A ONE OPE MEN ASKED THEM TO JOIN THEM SHOW LOYAL SUPPORT FOR TROOPS. >> WE FOUND WHEN THEY DO THAT THEY GET INCREASED FUNDI AND RECRUITS, AND ALL KINDS OF ORGANIZATIONAL BENEFITS. >> WHILE NOBODY FROM VAN GUARD COULD MEET WITH ME IN PERSON THE AMERICAN I SMOKE WITH SAID THERE WAS NO TRICKERY. >> AND THAT CHAPTER, TELLS M VAN GUARD NEBRASKA BLOCKED MOST OF THOSE FACES AS A PRECAUTION, BUT MOST OF THOSE PEOPLE ARE MEMBERS. HE SAYS THE CHAPTER HAS MORE THAN 100 MEMBERS IN THE STATE

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The meaning behind a flag photographed in an Omaha bar is sparking backlash in Benson and beyond. The people in the photo are obscured, but the flag, symbolizing American Vanguard, a self-proclaimed white nationalist organization, isn’t. The white nationalist organization has an online presence tied to 11 different states on its website, including Nebraska. Captioned Pilsner and Patriotism, the photo posted on Election Day to a Twitter account with less than 300 followers has Jake’s bar general manager Abigail Lemke on edge. “I don't associate this group with politics,” she said. “This is a group I associate with violence and intimidation.” The Twitter account purports to be “the scariest white nationalist group in Nebraska,” posting comments that say things like “imagine a Muslim-free America.” When Lemke saw the photo taken in her bar, one that’s now a banner on the group’s national website, “that just made me sick to my stomach,” she said. Lemke knew she had to act, posting on the bar’s Facebook page that the bar denounces the group and any kind of racism. “That's the exact opposite of who we are and that doesn't represent us at all,” she said. Megan Hunt said she noticed the photo on Monday and posted it to her page to spread awareness. “I believe in holding each other accountable, being better, and that's why I believe in exposing things like this,” she said. Within two hours, Hunt said, four people contacted her, saying they were duped into posing for the picture. “They said, ‘Megan, I'm in this photo and I had no idea that this was a white supremacist group,’” Hunt said. Hunt said a woman in the photo told her a couple of men asked her and her friends to join them in a photo to show veteran support. Experts said similar tactics are used in extremist groups in the Middle East to make it seem like they have more members. "We found that when they do that, they get increased funding, increased recruits, all kinds of organizational benefits," University of Nebraska-Omaha associate professor Dr. Gina Ligon said. While nobody from Vanguard Nebraska could meet with KETV NewsWatch 7 in person, the Nebraska president said there was no trickery. Chapter president and Omaha resident Sam Hyde said Vanguard Nebraska covered up everyone's faces in the photo as a "precaution," but said most of the people in the photo are members. He also said the chapter has more than 100 members in the state, about half live in Omaha.