Antisemitic Signs Continue to Appear at Anti-Lockdown Protests Organized by Far-Right Extremists
In response to stay-at-home orders attempting to flatten the curve and contain the COVID-19 pandemic, conservative groups, supported by right-wing extremists, have organized a series of anti-lockdown protests in states across the country. These protests are designed to give the false impression that the majority of Americans want stay-at-home orders lifted (two-thirds of Americans actually want these orders kept in place) in order to shift blame for the scale of this crisis onto Democrats instead of Donald Trump and the Republican Party.
Republican politicians, including Donald Trump, have praised these “Reopen” protests from the start, and continue to do so even as the involvement of antisemitic and white nationalist groups and armed militias grows. From overtly antisemitic signs and conspiracies, to confederate flags, to the presence of the Proud Boys, to the involvement of leaders from Unite The Right in Charlottesville in 2017, to messaging comparing Democratic governors to Hitler and stay-at-home orders to Nazi takeovers, it is clear that the anti-lockdown effort is the way white nationalists are recruiting offline and building power.
An anti-lockdown protestor comparing Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer to Hitler.
An antisemitic sign referring to Jews as the “real plague” carried at an anti-lockdown protest in Ohio.
An anti-lockdown protestor comparing Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, who is Jewish, to Hitler.
Another anti-lockdown protestor comparing Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, who is Jewish, to Hitler.
Anti-lockdown protestor in Illinois carries a sign referencing Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker that reads, in German, “work will set you free.” These are the same words on the gates of Auschwitz, a Nazi death camp.
An anti-lockdown protestor comparing California Governor Gavin Newsom to Hitler.
A North Carolina anti-lockdown protestor likening stay-at-home orders to the Nazis.
A sign comparing Governor Gretchen Whitmer to Hitler at an anti-lockdown protest in Lansing, Michigan.