Couple walks around Rhode Island Holocaust memorial wearing Nazi armbands and MAGA hat

Daily Kos Staff

Friday April 19, 2019 · 10:36 AM PDT

2019/04/19 · 10:36

A Trump supporter displays a Trump doll during a rally as the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MN) and a coalition of community organizations in support of Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar gathered outside the Nuss Truck and Equipment in Burnsville, Minnesota where US President Donald Trump spoke on April 15, 2019. - Ilhan, a former refugee and first black Muslim woman elected to US Congress, has been at the center of a swirling debate about anti-Semitism, discrimination and the role of an outspoken first-year congresswoman who challenges the White House. Belligerence against the lawmaker has ramped up dramatically after a clip emerged of her characterizing the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States as "some people did something." On Friday, Trump tweeted a video that juxtaposed the snippet -- which some Democrats say was taken out of context -- with images of the hijacked planes crashing into the World Trade Center's twin towers in New York. Omar said Sunday in a statement that many of the increased threats she had received were "directly referencing or replying to the President's video." (Photo by Kerem Yucel / AFP) (Photo credit should read KEREM YUCEL/AFP/Getty Images)

It’s not against the law to wear a swastika. That’s something that falls under the protection of the First Amendment to our Constitution. It is arguably the most fundamental freedom we have, and the most important one in defending ourselves against sliding into fascism. The irony of course is that our constitutional tool to thwart fascism can be applied to brandishing fascist symbolism and ideology. The Providence Journal reports that a man and woman were seen outside a downtown eatery on South Main Street in Providence, Rhode Island, wearing swastika armbands—the woman had on a swastika-emblazoned shirt, while the man also wore a red Make America Great Again Trump hat.

According to Sondra Pierson, who took photos of the two and spoke with the Journal, the two smoked cigarettes, crossed the street to the Rhode Island Holocaust Memorial, and took photos of one another posing around the memorial park. Pierson says she confronted the two, who responded sarcastically and then got into their car and drove away. Pierson called the police, but realized there really wasn’t much the police could do.

Steven Brown, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island, told the Providence Journal that while their actions were “shameful” and “despicable,” the two asshats were well within their legal rights. Signs of hate and anti-Semitism have increased across the country as the movement that swept Donald Trump into power and buoys him up becomes more prevalent. It is legal to say those things, but the line between protected speech and incitement to violence is getting blurrier and blurrier, as the hatred and right-wing political rhetoric find their way into the mouths of mass-murdering bigots more and more often.

The continuing empowerment of those spouting white supremacist ideas by our current administration and its state propaganda outlets such as Fox News only spurs more scumbags like these two to walk around in the light of day.

Couple walks around Rhode Island Holocaust memorial wearing Nazi armbands and MAGA hat

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