Nazi flag waved by a man at a Bernie Sanders event sparks outcry

[Polybius]

Source: CNN

(CNN)A man was kicked out of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders' rally in Arizona after he unfurled a Nazi flag during the Democratic presidential candidate's speech.

The appearance of a Nazi flag at the Sanders campaign event Thursday night was widely denounced on social media, sparked outcry and prompted calls for security.

"We can argue about which candidate should get the Dem nomination, but antisemitic acts have no place in this world. This is absolutely abhorrent," Steven Slugocki, the chairman of the Maricopa County Democratic Party in Arizona, wrote on Twitter.

The individual who had hung a flag with a swastika on it was immediately booed by the crowd. Members of the audience ripped the flag from the individual's hand, and the individual was quickly removed by security.



Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/06/politics/nazi-flag-at-bernie-sanders-rally-gets-person-kicked-out/index.html

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Absolutely disgusting. This is definitely not free speech!

[yaesu]

1. putin will be pulling all kinds of tricks to disrupt the candidates. nt

[stopdiggin]

2. you're mistaken. it's absolutely disgusting. and ...

it is definitely free speech.
(I argue the point only because there are quite a few who legitimately don't understand .. or, more damaging, simply don'y agree .. with offensive speech as being protected. It's a troubling trend .. and a total misreading of the principle.)

The only niggling question here .. is whether I can insert myself into your home (or business, or place of worship) .. and then cloak myself in the sanctity of free speech. But that more likely falls into the category of trespass ....

[reACTIONary]

15. It would (and should) be protected speech...

.... out side the auditorium. Inside, no.

I think referring to "protected speech" rather than "free speech" might help with the nuance.

Thanks for speaking freely!

[stopdiggin]

25. my PREFERENCE would be

that this type of speech happen outside as well. But, alas .. the courts have given little indication they would agree. As I said, the distinction between inside vs outside .. public sphere vs private .. has little real bearing on speech issues. And in this case (at a public rally/event) there's very little likelihood you'd get any kind of hearing at all.

(if your point is that this kind of speech shouldn't happen .. then I agree wholeheartedly. As for the lawfulness ...)

As a point of interest .. Were you aware that the, "can't yell "fire" in a crowded theater" quote is taken from thoroughly discredited (and overturned) case law? Every school kid for the past 100 years has been taught this shibboleth .. and it's essentially wrong!

[reACTIONary]

29. I don't believe courts would have any problem ....

... with this "protester" having been removed. Do you think he would have a case in a court of law? Do you know of any similar instance where the "protester" was able to successfully challenge the ejection based on first amendment free speech principles?

[stopdiggin]

31. of course not

but that's not to the point at all. "Challenge ejection?" On what possible grounds? People are removed from spaces (both public and private) every day, for all kinds of reasons. Removal says nothing about free speech. Has anybody been jailed for taking this action (or speech)? Declared this speech illegal? Contemplating prosecution? Will anyone? Could anyone? Those are the questions that bear on free speech.

[reACTIONary]

32. OK, so I don't understand...

.... your point. If you want, provide some links that might explain your point of view in more detail, and I'll look into it further.

Thanks!

[stopdiggin]

33. here's the grade school version

https://www.freedomforuminstitute.org/first-amendment-center/primers/basics/

-- snip --
The First Amendment only protects your speech from government censorship. It applies to federal, state, and local government actors. This is a broad category that includes not only lawmakers and elected officials, but also public schools and universities, courts, and police officers. It does not include private citizens, businesses, and organizations.

Your boss can most certainly fire your sorry ass. Your wife divorce and your kids disown you. Your church can certainly turn their back and chuck you out of the fold. And a crowd (or security) can certainly usher you to the door if you're making a nuisance, or a jackass, of yourself. (As happens with surprising regularity.) Although, if they get too rambunctious and enthusiastic about it .. they themselves might risk being charged .. with assault.

But in all of the above .. the government is not charging you with illegal speech .. and your first amendment rights are not being abridged.

This sad individual had a right, though ill considered, to voice his ugly sentiment at a public gathering. And the crowd had a right to remove him from the proceedings.

[reACTIONary]

36. Thanks, that's a clear statement...

... of what I, also, believe to be the case.

[Progressive Jones]

35. Ah, but yelling "fire" in a crowded theater would surely get one pummeled. LOL. nt

[stopdiggin]

37. well .. maybe not "pummeling"

because that obviously wouldn't be "right" ...
but I really don't have a lot of problem with "hot stepping" somebody to the door ...
-- -- --

[Progressive Jones]

39. That'll work. nt

[wiley]

3. Color me skeptical

Did someone get his name and contact info? Looks familiar to me.

[Behind the Aegis]

4. Do tell.

Who is he?

[wiley]

5. No idea.

But I've seen him before. Surely someone got his info.

[Behind the Aegis]

8. Why were you "skeptical"?

White supremacist Robert Sterkeson interrupted Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders’ Thursday, March 5, 2020, rally in Phoenix, Arizona, when he waved a Nazi flag behind Sanders. Fellow rally attendees quickly pulled the flag from Sterkeson’s hands, and security teams removed him from the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Sterkeson, of Glendale, Arizona, is a self-described “stunt activist” who has harassed a range of Jewish and Muslim organizations and events. He uses evidence of these incidents to create online content, which he often posts to his eponymous YouTube channel or his Bitchute channel, “BombIslam.com.”

https://www.adl.org/blog/white-supremacist-unfurls-nazi-flag-at-arizona-sanders-rally

[SunSeeker]

20. Seems to be another nutjob doing it for the clicks...and hate.

[appalachiablue]

7. See #6, more info.

[Behind the Aegis]

9. Already had the info

Thanks

[appalachiablue]

6. Read all about him:

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/3/6/1925055/-Neo-Nazi-s-swastika-flag-stunt-at-Sanders-rally-in-Phoenix-just-the-latest-far-right-event-attack

[Behind the Aegis]

10. Guess we should be happy it was just a flag.

[bucolic_frolic]

11. National Socialism had little to do with socialism

quite a bit of a misnomer. It was fascism, the elites over the common and poor, it detested communism.

They sold dictatorship and concentration of power as socialism. Trumpian.

[no_hypocrisy]

12. As a side issue, where did the flag come from?

I can't imagine a flag manufacturer producing Nazi flags in this country.

[marble falls]

17. Same factory as the rebel rag gets made. No law against the swastika.

[DENVERPOPS]

21. Probably featured

on Ivanka and Jared's product website that sells MAGA hats, etc.........

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

34. China? If there's money to be made ...

I looked on Amazon - it doesn't appear that they sell that flag.

[oldsoftie]

13. Not a Sanders supporter, but anyone can show up at a rally & do shit like that.

And it worked. It got the media. Good for the people ripping it out of his stupid hands. Hope they there him out on his head

[shotten99]

14. That was my thought.

This is obviously a nut job wanting attention and to distract from more pressing issues.

[marble falls]

16. Honest mistake. The guy thought he was going to a Trump rally ...

It was free speech. Just not protected speech.

[kacekwl]

18. Someday when people realize that

giving the idiot with the flag, the sign, the megaphone the ability to "spark outcry" the time of day maybe we can get through a day. Everything is breaking news. Everything is threat . Every word is a slur. Sometimes we should just roll our eyes and move on instead of making a crisis out of nothing but the stupidity of some random fools.

[Steelrolled]

24. Absolutely right.

Impressionable people will learn of another way, short of randomly shooting people at least, of telling the world of their anger.

[Henhouse]

19. Joe Biden: attacks like this against a man who could be the first Jewish President are disgusting

Link to tweet

I don't care who you're supporting, attacks like this against a man who could be the first Jewish President are disgusting and beyond the pale.

[JohnnyRingo]

22. Bernie has been complaining that the vitriol goes both ways.

His campaign has been under fire for weeks that his supporters actively attack other candidates' supporters. Every time Sanders is confronted on this he goes straight to how his campaign is also under attack from the right and it all must stop. Unfortunately, there's been little evidence of this.

All I'm saying is if I were Bernie's campaign manager, I'd at least buy lunch for anyone who would cause a high profile disruption like this right now.

[Polybius]

23. It was a real neo-Nazi

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/3/6/1925055/-Neo-Nazi-s-swastika-flag-stunt-at-Sanders-rally-in-Phoenix-just-the-latest-far-right-event-attack

[JohnnyRingo]

28. And I believe that.

Just sayin', this one episode is most convenient for the candidate who needs to deflect from his own supporters intolerance. I'm sure he'll get plenty of mileage out of it (bad people on both sides).

[KSNY]

30. I suggest that you rethink your position.

It is astoundingly insensitive.

[stopdiggin]

38. you are strongly implying a false flag operation

employing genuine Nazi actors .. on the part of the Sanders organization.

Rank and utter nonsense!
(and that assumes a charitable view of your motives)

[JohnnyRingo]

40. Yeah, I shouldn't do that.

I'll soften my stance to an unexpected political windfall for the guy who says the vitriol flows freely both ways. I'd have to see the number of hostile incidents to know if it's equal.

[AC_Mem]

26. I think this is GOP

I think they are getting "actors" to come in and make it look as if Bernie and/or Democrats have the same issues that they OWN. i just do not believe that this is anything but a GOP /Trump set up. And i think that we need to get the word out there and the media needs to stop giving this crap coverage because this is an example of the tactics that the GOP will use in this presidential election. How we react to it will show OUR character. Get the person and immediately do homework on their background. their social media habits, their actual party affiliation. I think that will tell us exactly how they are doing what they can to cheat in this election.

[Polybius]

27. He's no actor, he's a real Nazi

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/3/6/1925055/-Neo-Nazi-s-swastika-flag-stunt-at-Sanders-rally-in-Phoenix-just-the-latest-far-right-event-attack

[AC_Mem]

42. He may be a real nazi

but is he really for Sanders, or is he a Trumper?

If he is a Nazi and for Sanders, then I humbly stand corrected, however the only Nazi's I have seen online lately tend to love 45.

annette

[captain jack]

41. A "living" "breathing" and free anti-Trump ad. I'd have handed him the mic and pressed record. n/t