Man yells 'heil Hitler, heil Trump!' during 'Fiddler' performance
By Mike Moffitt, SFGATE
A man gave the Nazi salute and yelled "Heil Hitler, heil Trump!" from the balcony during a Wednesday night performance of "Fiddler on the Roof" in Baltimore.
Audience member Rich Scheer, who witnessed the outburst during the intermission at the Hippodrome Theatre, told the Baltimore Sun that some people thought the salute was the prelude to a shooting and quickly exited out of the theater and into a hall.
"People started running," Scherr said. "I'll be honest, I was waiting to hear a gunshot. I thought, 'Here we go.'"
Ushers reportedly rushed to the man and police were called. Security escorted him out and the show resumed. The Sun reported that the audience cheered when the man was removed.
A police spokesman said the man, who was not identified, was not arrested.
"Fiddler on the Roof" is the story of a Jewish dairyman trying to keep his family adhering to their religious and cultural traditions even as they face persecution in tsarist Russia.
The "Heil Hitler" shout occurred immediately following a scene that depicts a wedding interrupted by a pogrom — an attack that can range from destruction of homes or property to outright slaughter.
The incident comes only days after the FBI released its 2017 hate crime statistics, which showed instances of the crime up 17 percent nationwide in the first year of Donald Trump's presidency over the previous year.
Eleven people were shot and killed in a Pittsburgh synagogue last month.
A lot of people continue to be senselessly murdered for being Jewish, nowadays.
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, paraphrasing Sarah Moore Grimké
According to the NYT report this idiot was drunk and "yelled the slogans because the final scene before intermission reminded him of his hatred for President Trump." It's being called anti-semitic presumably because he used the words 'Heil Hitler.' Now of course I am not condoning it in any way; and frankly the Baltimore police who decided not to press charges on free speech grounds need their heads examined. Some people, understandably jittery because of the Tree of Life shootings in Pittsburgh, started running for the exits. If that is not the exact equivalent of shouting fire in a crowded theater (and please excuse my lame attempt at a pun above) and therefore NOT protected speech, I don't know what it is. He should have the book thrown at him - don't know about jail time but maybe a substantial fine.
