People passing by the Residences at the St. George were shocked by what they saw this Thanksgiving on Pacific Avenue.
People passing by the Residences at the St. George were shocked by what they saw this Thanksgiving on Pacific Avenue. Hanging in the windows of one unit were two Nazi swastika flags. Despite the public outrage, the SCPD agreed with the landlord that there was not a lot anyone could do. The flags are hanging in the person’s apartment, and the tenant’s right to hang them is protected by the First Amendment. It was the same position taken by the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, whose representative, Don Zimmerman, said: “Combat this kind of speech with speech, and explain to the public why Nazism is wrong and why constitutional rights should prevail.”
A similar approach was taken by Rabbi Yochanan Friedman of the Chabad Temple by the Sea. While he opposes the flags, he said that he is more concerned about the public response to their display. Considering the outrage that people, both Jews and non-Jews, have expressed, the public response should be to his liking.
The landlord has refused to identify the tenant, who would not open the door to a reporter. A neighbor who knows the person who hung the flags also claimed that there was no crime involved in hanging them, and that the person did it in “the spirit of history, not hatred.” He called it “an intellectual pursuit, more than any statement.” Police spokesman Zach Friend says that there have been no complaints about the unit. Read more at the Santa Cruz Sentinel and KSBW.
