A protester unveiled a Nazi flag at Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) Thursday rally in Phoenix, Arizona, leading to his removal from the venue.
Cheers turned to boos at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Thursday after a protester unveiled a Nazi flag to the crowd, waving in the air as Sanders, who is Jewish and lost family members in the Holocaust, stood on stage. Those nearby reportedly snatched the flag from the man, and he was ultimately escorted out of the venue.
Sanders reportedly did not know the man was holding a flag embellished with a swastika and simply said, “Whoever it was, I think they’re a little outnumbered tonight,” as the man was taken out of the room:
Here is video of the incident. Incredibly disturbing.https://t.co/a9dxug9tut https://t.co/KOo3xIs1Ha
— Ruby Cramer (@rubycramer) March 6, 2020
“The senator is aware of the flag with the swastika on it and is disturbed by it,” Sanders spokesman @cascamike says. The protester was behind Sanders while he was speaking, but aides told him about it afterward. https://t.co/MVmmdJCr2z
— Ruby Cramer (@rubycramer) March 6, 2020
“It was absolutely wild,” national Sanders campaign surrogate Brianna Westbrook told the Washington Post. “I never thought I would have seen a swastika at a political event. It’s gross.”
Steven Slugocki, chair of the Maricopa County Democratic Party, condemned the antisemitic action.
“We can argue about which candidate should get the Dem nomination, but antisemitic acts have no place in this world. This is absolutely abhorrent,” he said:
We can argue about which candidate should get the Dem nomination, but antisemitic acts have no place in this world. This is absolutely abhorrent. pic.twitter.com/U5gvT7Db6y
— Steven Slugocki (@Slugocki) March 6, 2020
The Trump administration announced on Thursday the deportation of an ex-Nazi prison guard residing in Tennesee who “continues to receive a pension from Germany based on his employment in Germany, ‘including his wartime service.'”
Per the Justice Department’s release:
A U.S. Immigration Judge in Memphis, Tennessee, has issued a removal order against a German citizen and Tennessee resident, on the basis of his service in Nazi Germany in 1945 as an armed guard of concentration camp prisoners in the Neuengamme Concentration Camp system (Neuengamme).
After a two-day trial, U.S. Immigration Judge Rebecca L. Holt issued an opinion finding Friedrich Karl Berger removable under the 1978 Holtzman Amendment to the Immigration and Nationality Act because his “willing service as an armed guard of prisoners at a concentration camp where persecution took place” constituted assistance in Nazi-sponsored persecution.
…
“This case is but one example of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s commitment to ensuring that the United States will not serve as a safe haven for human rights violators and war criminals,” said Assistant Director David C. Shaw of U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), National Security Investigations Division, who oversees the Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center.
“We will continue to pursue these types of cases so that justice may be served,” he added.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.