PHOENIX, AZ – MARCH 05: Democratic Presidential Candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks at a campaign rally at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum on March 5, 2020 in Phoenix, Arizona.There were several disruptions during the rally, including a white nationalist brandishing a Nazi flag. The Arizona Democratic primary will be held on March 17. (Photo by Caitlin O’Hara/Getty Images) A member of a crowd during a rally for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in Phoenix on March 5 unfurled a Nazi flag.
The crowd hurled boos at the man and security escorted him out of the rally, according to The Washington Post.
https://twitter.com/SiddakAhuja/status/1235783420984340482
Sanders, a Democratic presidential candidate who had relatives perish during the Holocaust, responded to the incident during a March 6 press conference, saying that he was stunned to learn about the Nazi flag.
“We’ve had other events with some [President Donald] Trump people who get agitated and they try to disrupt the meeting and we deal with that, but this was something different,” Sanders said. “To have in the United States of America somebody bringing forth the most detestable symbol in modern history, a symbol of which over 400,000 brave Americans died trying to defeat, is unspeakable.”
As someone whose family was wiped out by Hitler and as an American, to have in this country somebody bringing forth the most detestable symbol in modern history is unspeakable. pic.twitter.com/0TySmmxhgh
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) March 6, 2020
Jewish groups condemned the Nazi flag.
“Targeting a Jewish candidate with a Nazi flag represents a new level of depravity,” Anti-Defamation League (ADL) CEO Jonathan Greenblatt tweeted. “There is no place for hate in politics. Disagree on issues, but all good people should flat out reject this kind of poison when it appears in the 2020 race.”
Targeting a Jewish candidate with a Nazi flag represents a new level of depravity. There is no place for hate in politics. Disagree on issues, but all good people should flat out reject this kind of poison when it appears in the 2020 race. https://t.co/4RaBfYkiOS
— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) March 6, 2020
The American Jewish Committee similarly tweeted, “Nazi flags are symbols of pure hate and have no place anywhere in America, much less in a rally for a Jewish presidential candidate. We are grateful that those responsible were removed immediately.”
Nazi flags are symbols of pure hate and have no place anywhere in America, much less in a rally for a Jewish presidential candidate. We are grateful that those responsible were removed immediately.https://t.co/HkfKGfIKIr
— American Jewish Committee (@AJCGlobal) March 6, 2020
New York Times columnist Bari Weiss tweeted, “Appalling. I wish I could say shocking.”
Appalling. I wish I could say shocking. https://t.co/aXfElIuk5r
— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) March 6, 2020
According to the ADL’s Center on Extremism, the man who unfurled the Nazi flag is a “stunt activist” who has previously unveiled a Nazi flag at a Jewish National Fund conference in Arizona in October 2018, the same day as the Tree of Life synagogue shooting. He also wore a hat emblazoned with the words “Bomb Islam” at a Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) event in May 2018.
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