A series of videos uploaded to Instagram have shown a group of Nazis being thrown out of an MMA fight. According to the individual who uploaded the videos, the Nazis were there to watch a fighter who had twin lightning bolts on his chest. If you’re unfamiliar with the relevance of that, twin lightning bolts were the symbol of the SS, which was a Nazi paramilitary group:
View this post on Instagram
The fighter with the ‘SS’ on his chest was not one of the headliners, and it’s unclear which of the undercard fighters the poster was referring to.
Nazis
In the video above, a dumpy, middle-aged man holds a Nazi flag aloft towards the ring. About half way through the video, the camera pans around to a security officer whose expression reads ‘what the fuck is this shit?‘. The man keeps his Nazi flag aloft, and people in the crowd begin to notice — several of them laughing, and a few doing Nazi salutes in response. This triggers a wave of such salutes in the audience.
A second video captures the aftermath of the flag unfurling:
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In this video, a female security guard approaches the flag Nazi from behind. At first glance, it looks like she’s able to pull him towards herself by yanking on his flag. Looking more closely, you’ll notice an audience member seated behind her is also pulling on it. Either way, she’s able to take the flag from him, and she directs him to leave.
While this is happening, some people in the audience react with what looks like shock. Clearly, many people support the Nazi, because they fire off Nazi salutes. Some are likely unhappy with the situation, but it’s harder to identify who, because there is no anti-Nazi salute that they can fire off to identify themselves.
As the flag Nazi and his group are ushered out, a seemingly un-linked man tries to grab the flag from the security woman. A different man squares up to the attempted flag-snatcher in response. Tensions seem high at this point, although many just look confused.
The following are some of the responses to the Instagram video:
Sign of the times
It’s obviously not a good sign that someone can unfurl a Nazi flag at a public event and get this sort of reaction. At the same time, it’s not really that surprising at this point. Elements of the American right have been lurching in this direction for some time now. And there’s no reason to think it will get better any time soon.
Featured image via Instagram
By Willem Moore
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