Protesters waved Nazi flags outdoors of a group theater manufacturing of “The Diary of Anne Frank,” leaving performers “understandably shaken” by the hateful show in Michigan, officers mentioned Monday.
The stunning protest by a handful of masked males unfolded Saturday night time outdoors of American Legion Post 141 in Howell, the place the play by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett was being staged.
Even although American Legion employees had the swastika-waving protesters “underneath management” and “moved off the property,” present producers determined to tell everybody in the home at intermission of what was taking place outdoors.
“For this manufacturing, our solid was additionally on stage in character throughout intermission, which was after they discovered as effectively,” in accordance with a press release by the Fowlerville Community Theater.
“Although some had been understandably shaken, they pulled collectively and completed the efficiency with energy and professionalism.”
Livingston County Sheriff’s deputies had been known as a few “disturbance” at 7:43 p.m. on Saturday, officers mentioned.
The 5 masked demonstrators “had been requested to depart the property and did,” in accordance with assertion by Sheriff Michael Murphy.
The agitators “went throughout the road and waved flags adorned with” swastikas earlier than a “topic then approached them, and an argument ensued,” the sheriff added.
“Nothing bodily transpired and in the end the events concerned separated,” Murphy added.
Michigan has been a sizzling spot of U.S. politics, as one of many swing states that shifted proper and delivered a slender victory for President-elect Donald Trump.
“We are disgusted by the far-right extremists who praised Hitler and waved Nazi flags outdoors of an American Legion internet hosting the play ‘The Diary of Anne Frank,’ and we stand with American Legion 141 and” Howell Township for exhibiting “who know that hate doesn’t belong of their group,” in accordance with a press release by the Michigan Anti-Defamation League.
The Fowlerville Community Theater drew direct parallels between the play — tailored from the famed diary of Anne Frank, a Jewish woman killed by Nazis within the Holocaust — and the occasions of Saturday night time.
“This manufacturing facilities on actual individuals who misplaced their lives within the Holocaust, and we’ve endeavored to inform their story with as a lot realism as potential,” the theater mentioned in its assertion. “On Saturday night, issues turn out to be extra actual than we anticipated.”
“The presence of protesters outdoors gave us a small glimpse of the worry and uncertainty felt by these in hiding,” the assertion mentioned.