Calif man puts giant swastika in his yard. "what is a swastika?", "I just thought it'd be cool"

[Demovictory9]

?w=499&f=3b6497c408434a32933e35c509a4e07a

CALIFORNIA MAN PUTS GIANT SWASTIKA IN HIS FRONT YARD, NEIGHBORS ARE OFFENDED, WORRIED ABOUT PROPERTY VALUE

A California man has shocked neighbors by having a 10 foot-wide Swastika built in his front yard.

Aerial-view images captured above Steve Johnson's one-storey home on Lindell Drive in El Sobrante, Contra Costa County, show a huge black concrete Swastika taking up a portion of his yard. The Swastika measures around 10 feet by 10 feet, according to Bay Area News Group.

In interviews with local news outlets, Johnson claimed he wasn't aware of what the sign represents. He said he liked the shape and denied that he supported the Nazis, while his neighbors expressed concern.

-----

Johnson spoke to reporters about his home's new feature. When asked about the sign in his yard, Johnson asked NBC Bay Area "What is a swastika?"

"I like swastikas," he said according to Bay Area News Group. "I think they look cool. I didn't do it to get attention. I'm not a worshiper of Nazis. I just thought it'd be a cool thing to put in there."

https://www.newsweek.com/california-man-puts-giant-swastika-front-yard-1442471?amp=1&__twitter_impression=true

[tblue37]

1. Uh-huh:

?itemid=3871550

[real Cannabis calm]

20. Here is part of what a swastika represents - SIX MILLION JEWS EXECUTED:

Auschwitz-Birkenau: The Evolution of Tattooing in the Auschwitz Concentration Camp Complex
by George Rosenthal (Auschwitz Survivor)

For many, the blurred blue lines of a serial number on a forearm are an indelible image of the Holocaust. The tattoos of the survivors have come to symbolize the utter brutality and of the concentration camps and the attempt of the Nazis to dehumanize their victims. The tattoos are also a testament to the resilience of those who bear them. Yet despite the importance of the tattoos, as testament, symbol, and historical artifact, little scholarship has been devoted to the subject. There exist virtually no official period documents relating to the practice; what we know stems from anecdotal evidence contained in camp records and the accounts of those who were at the camps.

The Auschwitz Concentration Camp Complex (including Auschwitz 1, AuschwitzBirkenau, and Monowitz) was the only location in which prisoners were systematically tattooed during the Holocaust. Prior to tattooing, several means of identifying prisoners, both by number and by category, had been implemented; serial numbers were the main method. When they arrived at the camp, prisoners were issued serial numbers which were then sewn to their prison uniforms. These serial numbers were most often accompanied by different shapes, symbols or letters which identified the status, nationality, or religion of the prisoner. This practice continued even after tattooing was introduced.

Executions were one means of physically liquidating prisoners and people brought from outside the camp. At first, people were shot to death in the pits near the camp from which gravel had been dug. From the autumn of 1941 until the autumn of 1943, most of the executions by shooting took place in the courtyard of Block No. 11 in the main camp. Most of the victims here were Poles, who received sentences of death by shooting from, for instance, the Gestapo summary court...

Soviet prisoners of war were also executed at Auschwitz concentration camp. Beginning in September 1941, executions were also carried out using poison gas.

At least 2,000 Soviet prisoners of war were put to death in this way. After the dismantling of the Death Wall in 1944, larger groups of Poles sentenced to death by the police summary court were executed in the gas chambers. Executions by hanging were carried out sporadically in the camp. As opposed to shooting or killing in the gas chamber, hanging was public. It was carried out in front of other prisoners, usually during roll call.
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-evolution-of-tattooing-in-the-auschwitz-concentration-camp-complex

[TheBlackAdder]

22. 10x10 BULLSHIT! That Ford F-150 is 17.75 feet long, if a 6.5' bed and 19 feet with an 8' bed.

[ProudLib72]

2. They took an aerial photo, now do an aerial bombing

That's what we used to do to Nazis.

[MagickMuffin]

3. Well it was a cool symbol until Hitler changed the course of its original meaning

But now it is associated with Nazis.

[marylandblue]

10. Yeah, when I found out swastikas weren't cool,

I had to throw out half my collection of ancient South Asian iconography.

[Volaris]

39. I HATE when that happens lol. Damn Nazis, ruining EVERYTHING!!

[Iggo]

4. And then he had to lie about it. Not just a Nazi, but a coward.

[cwydro]

5. Looks to me it was an ugly yard any way.

Really ugly now.

[Demovictory9]

7. that whole swastika area could be a lovely garden

[cwydro]

9. My thought too.

Veggies, flowers...

A shame.

I don’t believe for a minute either that he doesn’t know what a swastika is

[Downtown Hound]

54. He claimed to not know what it was

And then immediately say that it's also a Buddhist and Hindu symbol. Me thinks he knows exactly what a swastika is if he knows that. I'm sure he also knows that the Buddhist and Hindu versions look quite different from the Nazi one, and yet his just happens to look exactly like the Nazi one, as does the one on his bike.

[cwydro]

55. What a turd.

Way to ruin everyone’s property values.

[JDC]

6. Lying piece of trash

[Demovictory9]

8. I know. If he likes swastikas he's obviously done research on them.

[Kaleva]

25. The Finns used a swastika as a military aircraft national insignia in WWII and before

But the Finn swastika was different then the Nazi emblem as it was rotated slightly.

"Finland’s adoption of the swastika predates its association with National Socialism. Mecklin tells the tale of how in 1918, the Swedish count Eric von Rosen had a swastika painted on the wings of an aircraft which he donated to the Finnish White Army, which was then fighting against Soviet-backed Red Guards to establish an independent Finland – a battle which the Whites ultimately won....

(While von Rosen’s introduction of the swastika to Finland had no relation to National Socialism, van Rosen himself in later years did. In 1923, his sister married Hermann Göring, and he had ties to Swedish national socialist parties in the 1930s.)"

https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2018/0910/Finland-used-the-swastika-before-the-Nazis.-Why-do-they-still

[struggle4progress]

60. That's no coincidence. The swastika appears as a rightwing symbol shortly after WWI --

and the Freikorps were actively involved in attempting to control the politics of the Baltic states immediately after WWI ended

The Nazi adoption of the symbol was a bow to those pre-existing rightwing groups

[Rustyeye77]

11. " These LAMP shades ? I thought they were cool "

nt

[dalton99a]

12. Lying asshole

El Sobrante resident Steven Johnson, 65, spoke to journalists on his motorcycle Wednesday, June 5, 2019 after installing a concrete swastika on his lawn. (Dylan Bouscher/Bay Area News Group)

[Demovictory9]

13. old enough to know what a swastika represents to most people

[sop]

38. Looks like Paul Sr. from American Chopper

[Demovictory9]

40. he does

[LakeArenal]

44. They all seem to look like Paul.

[JI7]

43. WTF is he wearing ???????

[sop]

45. Wife-beater t-shirt, and what looks like a Nazi stormtrooper helmet with goggles

[trev]

51. The helmet style is popular with Harley riders.

My best friend in Germany wore one.

https://www.amazon.com/Gloss-Black-Motorcycle-Helmet-Approved/dp/B07F94SQ9C/ref=asc_df_B07F94SQ9C/?tag=bingshoppinga-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid={creative}&hvpos={adposition}&hvnetw=o&hvrand={random}&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl={devicemodel}&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4583589105596323&psc=1

[sop]

53. It looks more like this:

https://www.jpcycles.com/product/714-851/fly-racing-street-9mm-flat-black-half-helmet

The WWII German Military replica MC helmets have the characteristic lip along the rear and sides. The style's been popular with certain Harley riders for years in states with helmet laws, usually favored by guys who like to dress up like pirates, wear patches and 1% badges on their sleeveless vests, and appear as menacing as possible. It definitely matches this guy's Nazi-themed front yard.

[trev]

58. Yeah, I guess mine looks more like a bicycle helmet. LOL

[Aristus]

48. If his intention had been to represent the traditional swastika instead

of the Nazi one, he would have faced the arms to the left, not the right, and not have given it a quarter turn. In the traditional swastika, the deployment of the arms is along a square pattern, not a diamond one as in his concrete swastika.

What an asshole.

I discovered what the swastika represented by the time I was six years ld...

[MineralMan]

49. Oh, that guy knows what a swastika is.

Yup. No question about it.

[smirkymonkey]

50. What a shithole!

And a shitty person living in it. He knows exactly what he's doing. I hope someone does to his swastika what what done to Trump's star on Hollywood Boulevard.

[Solly Mack]

14. He's full of shit among other things.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

15. And when he tries to sell his house he'll wonder why he's getting lowball offers.

[Demovictory9]

41. unfortunately the neighbors will have problems selling their homes.

[BigmanPigman]

16. It's new, he just installed it!

Of course he knows what it means. He is an asshole. Poor neighbors, I wonder what else they have had to deal with over the years.

[Takket]

17. yeah sure

[sop]

37. Oh my! George and Elaine are using the "wp" hand gesture

The “okay” hand gesture is now used as a hate symbol; the hand forms the letters "w" and "p," representing "white power." The whole thing started on 4chan, then was adopted by nazi, white nationalist and racist groups.

https://www.adl.org/education/references/hate-symbols/okay-hand-gesture

[Maxheader]

18. Lying sack of brown smelly....

Aww...po fella needs some attention...at the expense of a lot of dead people...

[gldstwmn]

19. You can't fix stupid.

[Red Mountain]

21. So he's going to remove it?

If it's expensive I suspect somebody would volunteer their time.

This guy is either an idiot or a liar.

[dalton99a]

26. Nope:

"I own this house I'll put what I want. It ain't none of your guys' business," he told ABC-affiliate KGO.

[VOX]

23. He knows goddamn well what a swastika signifies, and no, it's not a "cool thing."

Moreover, I'll bet that Swastika Steve has a sizable collection of Nazi paraphernalia inside his happy home.

[dalton99a]

24. There is a swastika sticker on his bike (it's for Tibet, of course)

When reporters asked Johnson about the swastika sticker on his bike, he told them to leave his yard.

[VOX]

30. I googled some newspaper articles, he has some additional "motifs" by his front door.

So it's an easy guess that he's a dedicated "collector."

[cwydro]

56. The reporter said he has one in tile in his shower.

Just wow.

[Captain Zero]

27. That would get him arrested in Germany today. nt

NT

[Loki Liesmith]

31. I wouldn't want that for the US

But Germany is a special case.

[magicarpet]

28. He seems nice....

[Phoenix61]

29. Be a shame if he had an accident on that bike.

Just saying. Not that karma would be out to get him because he’s a lying POS.

[Loki Liesmith]

32. Human trash

[betsuni]

33. He liked the shape.

[Raine]

34. what a total ASSHOLE

such a repulsive human being!

[Codeine]

35. A biker who likes swastikas?

I’m shocked.

[Hekate]

36. Disgusting liar

[JI7]

42. MAGA Trash

[irisblue]

46. And a long battle with the local zoning commission is on the way.

[cwydro]

57. They interviewed some local government guy who said there's nothing they can do.

This is frightening. The Bay Area?

Unreal.

[rockfordfile]

47. He's un-American

[tymorial]

52. The bullshit-o-meter broke over this one.

[Initech]

59. No! Nazism is not cool and nothing associated with it is!

Now *THAT* will drive your property values down 75%!