An employee of the state of Maryland is under investigation for using a Nazi analogy during a racial equity training.
Dr. Kara Hunt, the Director of Education and Outreach for the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights, compared police officers and the institution of policing to Nazis and Nazi Germany on two separate occasions during an April 1 racial equity training she conducted for the Montgomery County Parks Department. The Maryland Commission on Civil Rights opened an investigation into Hunt’s training after a police officer in attendance lodged an informal complaint.
Hunt previously denied to the Bethesda Beat that she made the comparisons.
In video of the training, obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller, Hunt uses multiple Nazi analogies to discuss police officers and policing.
Hunt appears on-screen opposite a powerpoint referencing slavery and Jim Crow, which some left-wing commentators have incorrectly cited as the origins of American policing.
“You have to look at the institution [of policing] more generally. You rarely if ever hear say someone say, ‘there were probably good Nazis. Like there were good Nazis even though there were a lot bad Nazis, because we can accept that the entire institution of Nazism, the entire Nazi regime, was bad,” Hunt said.
“There’s no way for you to be a co-conspirator or to exist in such a way that you stand by, or stand silent, when certain acts of gratuitous violence are waged against Jewish prisoners,” she said.
“Joining the ranks in and of itself is seen as a heinous or terrible thing. So when we talk about good cops versus bad cops, we should ask ourselves why we are centering that specifically on this institution when in other circumstances, when the primary victims are seen to be either closer to humanity … when the victims are seen to be closer to an ideal form of humanity, the institution itself can be criticized, as opposed to when the victims are people of color or black folks.”
“Then it’s like, we have to make these exceptions here versus these exceptions here. And its important to consider that,” Hunt added.
Later in the training, a participant tells Hunt that she does not believe “calling all police officers Nazis is the … way to help them [white people] understand” racial issues in American society. In response, Hunt denies saying all police officers are Nazis, but doubles down on the comparison.
“You would never say, ‘why can’t you understand that there are good Nazis?’ even if many Nazis said during that period of time that they never killed anyone, never harmed anyone, that they were in fear of what would happen to them and their families in the event that they did not join the regime. You still wouldn’t say, ‘no that’s reasonable.'”
“I’m not about to walk up to a Jewish person and say, ‘but what about the good Nazis?'”
“The Beat’s reporting and framing of this academic training is inaccurate and false, as is yours,” Hunt told the Daily Caller.
Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #30 president Jonathan Ness, who represents Maryland-National Capitol Park Police officers, told the Daily Caller that he “find[s] it very disheartening that comments like this would be considered acceptable, in of all places a state-sponsored training.” ”
“Inflammatory sentiments such as this are causing many good police officers to walk away from this noble profession and reducing the number of those wishing to join it. I fear what is in store for society if this pattern continues,” he continued. (RELATED: ‘Why Would You Want To Join Something Where People Hate You?’: Police Departments Struggle With Shortages)
Executive Director of the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights Alvin Gillard confirmed to the Daily Caller that he is continuing to review the training in question.
