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Actor Don Cheadle Thinks American Lapel Pin Is Secret Nazi Insignia

(Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Icon Film Distribution)

Ian Miles Cheong Contributor
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Actor Don Cheadle on Saturday apparently mistook an eagle pin for a Nazi insignia.

Cheadle, who’s been in several major films from “Hotel Rwanda” to “The Avengers,” implied that the eagle-shaped lapel of a CNN guest was some sort of Nazi insignia.

He wrote: “Hey @CNN … Anybody wanna tealk about my man’s lovely brooch on his lapel? Anybody minding the store. #WTAF?!?”

The pin was designed by Phyllis Schlafly in 1972 for her organization, the Eagle Forum, a conservative pro-family interest group.

As a symbol, the eagle doesn’t belong exclusively to any one nation. Other countries to use eagles in heraldry besides America include Albania, Austria, Egypt, France, Mexico, Poland, Romania, Russia, and ancient Rome.

When others advised Cheadle to delete the embarrassing tweet, his fans doubled down to suggest that he was right to be vigilant about calling out Nazis. “Vigilance is an asset in this era even if it produces some uneasy interactions,” wrote one of his followers.

Ian Miles Cheong is a journalist and outspoken media critic. You can reach him through social media at @stillgray on Twitter and on Facebook.