New York City Subway Riders are Fighting Neo-Nazism With Hand Sanitizer

Big Apple subway commuters are using household products to counter hate crimes as the #TurnHateIntoLove hashtag gains momentum.

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Headlines about hand sanitizer in New York subway cars aren’t exactly shocking, given the amount of germs present. However, one passenger’s use of the common product is drawing the attention of Chelsea Clinton and others.

Gregory Locke is making headlines following his Facebook post about how he and his fellow passengers used hand sanitizer to rid the subway of swastikas and other anti-Semitic graffiti. 

“I got on the subway in Manhattan tonight and found a Swastika on every advertisement and every window,” Locke wrote in a lengthy Facebook post Saturday. “The train was silent as everyone stared at each other, uncomfortable and unsure what to do.”

After one passenger mentioned how alcohol helps remove the ink from Sharpie branded markers, other commuters broke out their Purell and Kleenex and went to work.

Locke’s story is one piece of anecdotal evidence to back up data provided by the Pew Center and the Southern Poverty Law Center suggesting hate crimes have increased since Donald Trump was elected President. One could also point to obvious ties between Trump and the likes of Breitbart braintrust Milo Yiannopoulos and Stephen K. Bannon. 

The connection wasn’t lost on one passenger, as Locke said his fellow subway rider quipped, “I guess this is Trump’s America.”

“No sir, it’s not,” Locke wrote. “Not tonight and not ever. Not as long as stubborn New Yorkers have anything to say about it.”

We will not let hate win. And, another reason to carry hand sanitizer. pic.twitter.com/bgrAJf7SCv

Chelsea Clinton has since tweeted a screengrab of the post, while New York Governor Andrew Cuomo shared a similarly creative way to cover a swastika found on a New York subway.

This is what New Yorkers do - we turn hate into love. And we wont back down -not now, not ever. #TurnHateIntoLove pic.twitter.com/yVEsTY2aGc

“This is what New Yorkers do—we turn hate into love,” Cuomo tweeted, while using the hashtag #TurnHateIntoLove. “And we won't back down—not now, not ever.”

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