Masked demonstrators wearing white supremacist symbols and waving Nazi flags gathered outside a community theater in Michigan during a performance of “The Diary of Anne Frank.” The Fowlerville Community Theater troupe, which was staging the play, confirmed the incident and successfully handled the situation by notifying the audience during the intermission. Witnesses reported that the demonstrators were also shouting antisemitic and racist slurs.
Livingston County Sheriff’s Office stated that about five demonstrators were involved in the incident, prompting an argument with bystanders. The demonstrators were eventually moved across the street and no arrests were made. The incident was condemned by advocacy organizations, including the Michigan chapter of the American Defamation League (ADL) and the Michigan Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), who stressed the importance of rejecting bigotry and hate.
“The Diary of Anne Frank” is based on the writings of Anne Frank, a Jewish girl who kept a diary while hiding from the Nazis during World War II and later died in a concentration camp. The incidents in Michigan have been part of a surge in anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim incidents across the U.S., with the ADL revealing over 10,000 antisemitic incidents in the year following the Israel-Hamas war, and CAIR documenting over 8,000 anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian complaints in the same period.
The demonstration in Michigan has sparked widespread condemnation and calls for unity against hate and discrimination. The incident serves as a reminder of the ongoing struggle against extremism and the importance of educating future generations about the atrocities of the past.
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