Three white supremacists arrested over antisemitic posters in Florida

Florida police arrested three white supremacists for hanging antisemitic swastika banners from Orlando bridge this week.

Florida police arrested three white supremacists suspected of hanging posters featuring antisemitic insignia above a highway in Orlando, Florida this week.

The first arrest took place on Saturday, when Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) agents apprehended 48-year-old Jason Brown of Cape Canaveral for hanging antisemitic signs along the Daryl Carter Parkway Bridge.

Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Executive Director Dave Kerner thanked Governor DeSantis for his efforts in fighting hate speech.

“Florida is a law-and-order state. Today’s arrest demonstrates Florida’s commitment to protecting residents from attention-seeking extremists. On behalf of Colonel Gary L. Howze, II, and the nearly 2,000 FHP State Troopers who enforce our state law 24 hours a day, seven days a week, thank you, Governor DeSantis, for working to rid this state of intimidation, vitriol and hate directed towards people of faith, and for empowering law enforcement to do the same,” he was quoted as saying.

On Monday, 36-year-old Anthony Altick was arrested for hanging antisemitic banners from the same bridge and on Tuesday, Ronald Murray, 41, and Amanda Rains, 36, turned themselves into the Orange County Jail for the same offense.

The three will be charged with criminal mischief. It is against state law to hang banners on a state-owned structure without prior permission.

“We want to thank Governor DeSantis for his support of law enforcement and for the signing of HB 269, giving us the tools to arrest this hate-filled radical,” said FDLE Commissioner Mark Glass. “This activity will not be tolerated in the greatest state in the country,” he added.

In August, 2020, four men were arrested after hanging a “Hitler was right” banner on an overpass in Queen Creek, Arizona, just southeast of Phoenix.The banner stated, “Hitler was right,” and displayed an image of the former Nazi leader.It also contained a website address which 12 News chose not to publicize due to the website’s “bigoted and explicitly racist pronouncements.”Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the area after motorists reported the incident.The officers discovered four men between the ages of 27 and 38 posing and taking photos with the banner, which they had hung on a railroad bridge over the street.The men told police that they were exercising their first amendment rights.

Police charged the men with trespassing on railroad property, a class 3 misdemeanor, but said that they will not be pursuing the matter as a hate crime.

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The sheriff’s office also forwarded the case to the Town of Queen Creek for possible zoning violations resulting from the hanging of a banner. This is not the first time pro-Hitler messages have appeared on Queen Creek roadways.

In April of 2018, 12 News reported that an electronic highway sign was hacked to flash the message, “Hail Hitler.” Sheriff’s deputies responded to the scene around 2:30 a.m. and tried to turn the sign off but did not have a password for the operation system.

A county work crew was called out to cover the sign until it could be reprogrammed.