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Protesters wave Nazi flag, shout slurs outside ‘Anne Frank’ play in Detroit

Law enforcement asked agitators, described as in their 20s, to leave, prompting them to move across the street.

Anne Frank
Anne Frank. Credit: Collectie Anne Frank Stichting Amsterdam.

A group of about a dozen masked individuals protested outside a theater performance of “The Diary of Anne Frank” at American Legion Devereaux Post 141 in the Detroit metropolitan area, yelling vulgar insults and waving a swastika flag.

For approximately 30 minutes on the night of Nov. 9, men described as in their 20s chanted, among other things, that “Anne Frank was a whore,” according to The Detroit News.

Frank was a German-born Jewish teen living in Amsterdam who kept a diary of life in hiding there with her family until they were eventually rounded up by Nazis in August of 1944. She died in February 1945 in the Bergen-Belson concentration camp at the age of 15.

Sheriffs who arrived on the scene requested the demonstrators to leave, prompting the agitators to move across the street.

Bobby Brite, past commander of the post, filmed the event, retorting that “they are some of the most cowardly people I’ve ever met,” per the newspaper. Their actions were “absolutely disgusting.”

Chuck Firman, president of the Fowlerville Community Theatre that put on the play, said “it was a scary moment. But really, the show must go on.”

“There’s no reason that the process can’t be dramatically accelerated,” Dan Schnur, a political science lecturer, told JNS.
Katie Wilson, who promised when she was running for mayor to turn off cameras, said that she made the decision after an intelligence briefing from local and federal law enforcement.
“It is troubling that a stadium supported by taxpayer dollars would openly subsidize an event led by an artist known for pushing this dangerous, hateful rhetoric, especially with Florida having one of the largest Jewish populations in our country,” Sen. Rick Scott stated.
Toronto’s police chief said that there will be more barricades and officers in an effort to prevent a repeat of last year’s “gauntlet of hate” near the walk.
Mika Hackner of the North American Values Institute told JNS that “particular attention should be paid to the ‘local institutions’ tasked with carrying on” the foundation’s programs.
The House Armed Services Committee rejected Rep. Ro Khanna’s amendment to delete section 224 from the annual defense bill, which calls for increased cooperation between the U.S. and Israel.