Los Angeles officials are condemning supporters of Kanye West’s anti-Semitic remarks after they hung banners from a freeway overpass touting the rapper’s message.
A group of demonstrators appeared to raise their arms in a Nazi salute Saturday while hanging banners that read “honk if you know,” and “Kanye is right about the Jews,” according to CNN. West recently broadcast his anti-Semitic stance on social media which resulted in his Twitter account being locked and removed. West tweeted he he planned to go “death con 3 [sic] On JEWISH PEOPLE,” on Oct. 8, and doubled down in subsequent interviews.
L.A. is a city of belonging, not hate.
We condemn this weekend’s anti-Semitic incidents.
Jewish Angelenos should always feel safe.
There is no place for discrimination or prejudice in Los Angeles. And we will never back down from the fight to expose and eliminate it.
— MayorOfLA (@MayorOfLA) October 23, 2022
Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón took to Twitter with his concerns. “We cannot tolerate the #AntiSemitism that was on full display today on an LA Fwy. #WhiteSupremacy is a societal cancer that must be excised,”Gascón tweeted Saturday. “This message is dangerous & cannot be normalized. I stand with the Jewish community in condemning this disgusting behavior.”
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti echoed Gascón’s views. “We condemn this weekend’s anti-Semitic incidents. Jewish Angelenos should always feel safe.There is no place for discrimination or prejudice in Los Angeles,” Garcetti tweeted, pledging never to “back down from the fight to expose and eliminate” anti-Semitic rhetoric.
A statement from ADL Los Angeles Regional Director @jeffreyabrams on the antisemitic banners hung over the 405 freeway. Tell @adidas to #runawayfromhate and condemn Ye’s #antisemitism and re-evaluate their partnership: https://t.co/L312kbOGfK pic.twitter.com/i6HZ08s4nz
— ADL Southern California (@ADLSoCal) October 23, 2022
Los Angeles Regional Director Jeffrey Abrams also condemned the highway demonstrators. “This is an outrageous effort to fan the flames of antisemitism gripping the nation,” he tweeted. “This group, known for espousing antisemitism and white supremacist ideology, is now leveraging Ye’s antisemitism and is proof that hate breeds more hate.” (RELATED: Kanye West Reveals His Stance On Returning To Politics)
Fears that antisemitic remarks by Kanye West would spur additional bigotry came to fruition in Los Angeles when a well-known hate group held a demonstration in support of the rapper on a 405 Freeway overpass.https://t.co/bqyXn76EUN
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) October 24, 2022
Abrams then put the spotlight on Adidas, one of West’s only remaining alliances in the fashion industry, tweeting that “decisive action against antisemitism by Adidas is long overdue.”
Haute-couture fashion label Balenciaga announced Thursday that it was ending its long business relationship with West, according to TMZ.
The rapper and business mogul inflamed audiences on Oct. 3 when he appeared at Paris Fashion Week wearing a shirt with the slogan “White Lives Matter,” across the back. He has remained at the center of controversy ever since.