Nazi flag found in Wyoming public park
Billboards in Indiana respond to synagogue graffiti with ‘LOVE’
A Nazi flag was discovered by police earlier this week in a public park in Laramie, Wyoming.
CNN reported on Wednesday that local police discovered on Monday morning that the American flag normally flying in the park had been replaced by a flag bearing a huge swastika. The US flag was lying crumpled nearby, police said.
A police spokeswoman told the local Casper Star-Tribune that the department is investigating the incident.
The Anti-Defamation League’s Mountain States branch said in a statement that it is “appalling and outrageous that anyone would cast aside the American flag in a public park and replace it with an ugly symbol of the Nazi regime.”
The flag incident is the second public antisemitic event to occur in the United States in the past week.
On Saturday, vandals painted swastikas and the Nazi Iron Cross on the property of a synagogue in Carmel, Indiana. The local mayor as well as the state’s senators and Indiana native Vice President Mike Pence all condemned the incident.
But some locals wanted to do more to express their support. On Tuesday, billboards across the state went up with a message of love for the Jewish community.
According to WRTV station in Indianapolis, the billboards – which feature the word “LOVE” with a Star of David inside the “O” – are owned by a series of advertising agencies: Lamar Advertising, Outfront Media and Fairway Outdoor Advertising.
Chris Iverson of Lamar Advertising told the Indianapolis WISH TV station that 12 billboards in all went up around the state.
“We wanted to do something. We just wanted to put a positive message out there,” Iverson said. “We just thought, what’s more positive than love.”