Neo-Nazi website calls for armed march in Montana to harass Jews
Local faith leaders speak out in support of beleaguered Jewish community
Andrew Anglin, the man who runs the neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer, has announced an armed march by white supremacists in an effort to harass a Montana Jewish community.
The website graphic published Friday announcing the march in Whitefish, Montana, was superimposed over a picture of the entrance to Auschwitz and includes a yellow Star of David with the word “Jude” printed in it.
Leaders of various faiths in Montana wrote statements in support of the Jewish community in local publications.
“As leaders of Montana communities of faith and practice, we are called to respond to the recent surge of white supremacist and neo-Nazi activity in our state. Distribution of pro-Nazi, antisemitic flyers in Missoula and intimidation of Jewish community members in the Flathead Valley moves us to speak out against actions of those who attack the Jewish citizens of our state, and any other minority group, with false assertions and threatening language,” read a statement published Sunday in the Daily Inter Lake, a newspaper serving Northwest Montana. It was co-signed by about 50 reverends, deacons, rabbis and pastors. The statement called on people across Montana to display a menorah in their window during the holiday season.
“Find one at a local store, print a paper copy from the Internet or find one in the local newspaper. The menorah is a symbol of light and wisdom. In this time of transition and challenge, it represents the need to support each other in the work of peacemaking, reconciliation and justice,” the statement said.
It also called on lawmakers to “protect the rights of all citizens by enacting laws that prohibit discrimination on the basis of religion, ethnicity, race, and gender.” It also urged law enforcement officials to “closely monitor bias incidents and act swiftly to protect our citizens,” and called on schools to teach tolerance.
A statement published Monday in The Montana Standard, titled “Missoula Catholics stand with Jewish community,” read: “Again from the depths of darkness, from the ‘netherworld’ of fear, our Jewish sisters and brothers are threatened with hate, discrimination and violence in our own Missoula community and in other parts of Montana. Such attitudes and threats, no matter how few, can never be tolerated or ignored, for they plant the seeds of a cold-hearted darkness which threatens the beauty and wonder of a truly human spirit and the very life and freedom of every person.”
The statement was signed by Catholic pastors, priests, deacons, sisters, pastoral administrators, parish staffs and Catholic school administrators of the Missoula Deanery, who it said: “stand with our Jewish neighbors and friends in solidarity, support, mutual caring, faith and hope. We choose, with them, to be seen in the light, affirming hope ‘as high as the sky.’ We choose, with them, not to be silent but to be the word of God echoing in the night, as a promise of light, liberation and mutual respect.”
Whitefish is home to white supremacist leader Richard Spencer, president of the National Policy Institute, a white supremacist think tank. Last month, he spoke at a white supremacist event in Washington, DC celebrating President-elect Donald Trump’s victory. At the event, Spencer said “Hail Trump!” and was greeted by Nazi salutes.
The Daily Stormer, a white supremacist publication, published a blog post earlier in the month calling for followers to “take action” against Jews in Whitefish by writing and calling them with antisemitic messages. The post claimed that Jewish residents were “threatening” Spencer’s mother’s business in the town.
The post included the names, phone numbers and addresses of Jewish Whitefish residents – in addition to the Twitter handle and photo of a child. The post also included photos of Jewish residents of Whitefish emblazoned with yellow stars. Along with using a number of antisemitic slurs, the post warned readers against using “violence or threats of violence or anything close to that.”
The local government of Whitefish, which has 6,000 full-time residents, has rejected Spencer’s ideas.
“Not only is Anglin harassing the Jewish community of Whitefish, he is at the same time exploiting the situation there to promote antisemitic conspiracy theories about Jewish power and control. He alleges that Jews have targeted white supremacists and antisemites, but now he is somehow turning the tables on them,” the ADL said.
The ADL said it has been in regular contact with the Whitefish Jews singled out by Anglin as well as law enforcement. ( JTA)