Baltimore got quite the scare on Wednesday, thanks to what seemed like a precursor to another anti-Semitic attack.
And once again the country got an example of white supremacists showing they hear Donald Trump‘s racist dog whistling, even if the GOP pretends not to.
Related: Trump Takes Steps To End Russia Investigation
During intermission at the Hippodrome Theatre, a man suddenly stood up in the balcony and did a Nazi salute, shouting:
“Heil Hitler! Heil Trump!”
An audience member named Rich Scherr told The Baltimore Sun:
“People started running. I’ll be honest, I was waiting to hear a gunshot. I thought, ‘Here we go.'”
So horrifying. We can’t even imagine, especially on the heels of the deadly synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh.
Scherr got footage of the scary moment:
Sick, sad world. A man stands at intermission of tonight’s performance of Fiddler in Baltimore and yells, “Heil Hitler,” along with pro-Trump references. pic.twitter.com/slDcPwF7re
— Rich Scherr (@writerguyRich) November 15, 2018
Samit Verma, another audience member seated close to the incident, said:
“The people around me appeared to be quite shaken by the incident. There were some people in tears.”
As some audience members ran out, ushers rushed over to make sure everyone was safe. Police were called, and security removed the man.
Thankfully this was only hateful speech and not something worse.
As such, the man was not arrested, just given a stop ticket, which carries no fine or penalty — essentially a warning. A police spokesperson explained:
“As reprehensible as those words are, they are considered protected free speech because nobody was directly threatened.”
No person was directly threatened.
But the soul of the United States was. Again.
Related: Celebrities React To The Pittsburgh Shooting
The venue was likely chosen for the protest because of the nature of the play — it was a production of the classic musical Fiddler On The Roof, which tells the story of a Jewish family facing persecution in Russia. Just before intermission, there is an attack on a Jewish wedding.
The Hippodrome Theatre released a statement saying:
“The France-Merrick Performing Arts Center takes the security and safety of its subscribers and patrons seriously. We employ a full team of professional security personnel, who are always on premise during live events to implement bag checks, provide screening and metal detection, and to monitor cameras throughout the venue.
We apologize to those patrons who were affected by this unfortunate incident. Our venue has a proud tradition of providing shared experiences to people from all walks of life, right in the heart of this wonderfully diverse city, and we intend to continue that tradition in the spirit of bringing people together, not dividing them.”
If only the President of the United States had the same goal.
[Image via Judy Eddy/WENN.]
Related Posts
-
Categories
