Denver, CO, July 31, 2018 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today expressed anger and outrage that an American flag was removed and replaced with a Nazi flag on Monday on a flagpole atop the Washington Park band shell in Laramie, Wyoming. ADL also commended officers with the Laramie Police Department who, according to media reports, respectfully folded the discarded American flag and then restored it to its regular position on the flagpole.

 

Jeremy Shaver, ADL Mountain States Senior Associate Director, issued the following statement:

 

It is appalling and outrageous that anyone would cast aside the American flag in a public park and replace it with an ugly symbol of the Nazi regime. We commend the responding officers with the Laramie Police Department for acting in such a respectful and professional manner on scene. We also thank law enforcement officers for investigating the incident as a potential bias-motivated crime. We all have a responsibility to speak up when such hateful incidents take place in our communities.

 

ADL has created a database of the symbols most frequently used by a variety of white supremacist groups and movements, as well as other types of hate groups. The database, Hate on Display, can be found at:  www.adl.org/hatesymbols.