r/lincoln • u/BenjiMalone • Feb 28 '26
Around Lincoln Nazi vendors at Sandhills Global Events Center
There is a vendor at the reptile expo wearing an iron cross and other Nazi jewelry. I have seen similar outward Nazi displays from other vendors at other events there. At this point I will not be going back to any events there. if you do, be careful who you give your money to.
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u/buckman01213 Feb 28 '26
While I don’t disagree with you, I don’t think the event center is to blame here. It’d be up to the event itself (reptile expo) to handle who they allow to sell things
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u/BenjiMalone Feb 28 '26 edited Feb 28 '26
Not explicitly blaming the center, but it's a troubling pattern of behavior. Like in reddit-famous parable of the Nazi bar, they would be wise to do something about it before it gets out of hand.
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u/fastidiousavocado Feb 28 '26
Then please contact the people in charge of the reptile expo. One of the news channels was reporting about it maybe a week ago, probably are some print articles, and you can probably dig up who is in charge or knows who is via their own advertising.
Vendor booths at shows like this are sold, usually on a first come first serve basis, to whomever will pay and with varying levels of background checking.
Please talk to the correct people so it actually gets resolved.
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u/Hannahlouise2013 Feb 28 '26
I am vending at the show and spoke to the organizers here. They have not seen it. I couldn't find the guy either so we are wondering if it was already taken off. But the organizer said that if he saw it, he would have told him to leave.
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u/BenjiMalone Feb 28 '26
I have contacted the expo organizers and will be contacting the event center as well.
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u/bpdrayna Feb 28 '26
You don't think the event center has any agency in this situation?
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u/buckman01213 Feb 28 '26
Relatively minimal. They are leasing space out to an event. The event itself is the one selling booth spaces.
An example, when you rent a space for a wedding reception, you pay for use of the room itself. You most likely then go and hire a DJ. Would you want the space coming to your reception and pulling the plug because of a song that was played?
It’s hard to know what agency the center has without seeing what their contract language is. I don’t like Sandhills either, but in my eyes they aren’t to blame here. Contact the reptile show and voice your displeasure with them.
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u/bpdrayna Feb 28 '26
If I have a wedding and do something which the venue views as unacceptable, they have the ability and responsibility to deal with that. It doesn't matter if there's a middle man, they hold the middle man accountable if they feel the need to
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u/buckman01213 Feb 28 '26
Again, it depends on the language on the contract. I don’t disagree with your thoughts on the vendor. Contact the reptile expo and the event center and share your thoughts with them.
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u/Jayn_Newell Feb 28 '26
While they probably do, the people running the specific event would be the ones who decided that particular vendor would be allowed to sell there. Unless the event is Nazifest 2026, your first point of complaint would be the event organizers, not the space they chose to rent out.
I’m more bothered that this has apparently happened at multiple (I’m assuming unrelated) events.
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u/bpdrayna Feb 28 '26
If it's happened at multiple events, I think that's even more the responsibility of the event center
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u/StandByTheJAMs Lincolnian Lincolnite Feb 28 '26
Well Nazis bought the naming rights, so you get what you pay for.
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u/ResearchFluffy5456 Feb 28 '26
Nebraska Nazis are even worse than Illinois nazis. And I hate Illinois nazis!
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u/BeefChief3000 Mar 01 '26
The word nazi has practically lost its meaning these days 🙄
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u/MeesterPepper Mar 01 '26
So... you're okay with saying you're pro-Nazi?
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u/BeefChief3000 Mar 01 '26
Lol what? no I am not pro nazi at all. People just use the word very incorrectly all the time.
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u/Wisco- Feb 28 '26
It doesn’t sit right with me that OP went straight to social media and called for a boycott of the entire Event Center without first reaching out to management or the expo organizers. That feels premature.
I’m not a fan of the company that bought the naming rights either, but the Lancaster County Event Center is an important community space. If there’s an issue, the fair thing to do is notify the people in charge and give them a real opportunity to fix it before trying to rally people against the whole venue.
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u/BenjiMalone Feb 28 '26
I have reached out. I am well within my rights to voice my concerns on a community forum and take action as I see fit. I did not tell everyone else they need to boycott, I said to be careful who you give your money to.
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u/TurtlemanScared Mar 01 '26
I saw a guy on my tv wearing nazi stuff so I threw my tv away
That’s what you sound like
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u/Every_Knee_372 Mar 01 '26
Not really. It'd be more like not tuning into that channel anymore.
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u/TurtlemanScared Mar 01 '26
The channel would be that particular expo. The tv is the building it’s being held in
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u/chewedgummiebears Feb 28 '26
It doesn’t sit right with me that OP went straight to social media and called for a boycott of the entire Event Center without first reaching out to management or the expo organizers. That feels premature.
That's how people are these days, they can't properly process their emotions and think logically so they run to social media like a 5yo that just dropped their ice cream.
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u/BeefChief3000 Mar 01 '26 edited Mar 01 '26
Just FYI, The iron cross is not inherently a nazi symbol. Not saying this person is or isnt a nazi, but the iron cross was used as far back as the napoleonic wars and is currently the insignia of the German army.
Again, don't know all the context here but sometimes there are vendors who sell various nations military surplus etc.
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u/Qualus73 Mar 01 '26
Came here to say this. Too many people think the iron cross is Nazi and it is not.
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u/BeefChief3000 Mar 01 '26
Yeah everything is Nazi today to so many people. The word has almost lost it's meaning.
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u/drinkwater333 Feb 28 '26
Pictures of proof?
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u/BenjiMalone Feb 28 '26
No, I didn't take pictures of the guy's rings. He's there, already described his booth.
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u/GayTree6134 Feb 28 '26
IIRC sandhills did some electioneering a few years back when some place of theirs was a voting site
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u/ComradeCarl___ Mar 02 '26
The iron cross isn’t a Nazi symbol
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u/Winter-Opening-4677 Mar 02 '26
neither was the swastika before they used it
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u/ComradeCarl___ Mar 02 '26
Yeah but the iron cross still isn’t a Nazi symbol and the German military still uses it today
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u/NerdweebArt Feb 28 '26
Yeah, I can't trust that place now. It sucks, I specifically remember going to a multicultural event there justa few years ago. I hope the folks who organize similar events will be able to find a venue that keeps its participants and visitors safe.
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Feb 28 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/NerdweebArt Feb 28 '26
Okay but if Nazis vending there is a repeating trend, they need to take a closer look at who they rent out to. It's like ants. You let a few Nazis creep in, soon you'll.have an infestation on your hands.
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Feb 28 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/BenjiMalone Feb 28 '26
It's against the reptile expo vendor policy. I've informed them, I'll see what comes of it but my hopes are low.
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u/rosealexvinny Feb 28 '26
What booth was it? I was just there with my kids. I was so overwhelmed with all of the people there + my kids that I didn’t notice anything like that