Another One For the “Why Do They Call Us Nazis?” File
A student group at the University of Illinois adds to the list.
As I have noted on multiple occasions, various members and allies of the Trump administration get upset when critics refer to them as “Gestapo” or “Nazis” (here’s an example I saw just in passing this morning).
A piece of advice that I have shared for free on numerous occasions is: if you don’t want to be compared to Nazis, maybe don’t act like them?
The latest example comes from a Republican student group at the University of Illinois, which posted the following to Instagram:
Knowing nothing else about this graphic, and given recent events, it is hard not to see the resemblance between the man on his knees with a gun to his head and Alex Pretti, the man ICE shot 10 times in the back while he was face down on the ground.
If one knew nothing else save the obviously AI-generated image above, it would give one pause as to what message is being sent, unless one likes that message (i.e., that protestors should be shot as traitors).
To avoid any ambiguity, allow me to forthrightly state that protesting ICE is not treasonous; on the contrary, it is a constitutionally protected right.
More to the point, we know that just prior to being tackled and killed, his main “crimes” appear to be 1) coming to the aid of a woman who had been violently shoved by ICE, and 2) videoing with his phone.
All of the above would be enough, in my mind, to see the above graphic as Nazi-like.
But the situation is much worse, as the above graphic is derived from the following, which is clearly Pretti. I have included a comparison to a Nazi execution because, in most cases, this is how I encountered the image on social media when it was circulating several days ago.
It seems worth underscoring that there is little chance that whoever made the AI graphic version posted by illinirepublicans did not see the Nazi image as well, given its ubiquity.
All of this reminds me of the Young Republican text chains that were published and raised ongoing concerns about what is being incubated within conservative organizations at our universities. The people promoting these kinds of images are the same people who want to be party leaders and candidates in the future. That is not a comforting thought. This is all far-right politics that should be anathema in America, but instead are being cultivated by this administration.
I will say it again: if you don’t want to be compared to Nazis, don’t emulate Nazis.
Here’s the write-up on this story from the student newspaper: ‘Fell the enemies:’ Illini Republicans support ICE amid Minnesota killings.
As of Sunday, the group removed the graphic but kept the larger post, which garnered more than a thousand comments on their Instagram account.
The post continues to state that “it is, has, and always will be the mandate of our brave public servants, domestic and abroad, to fell the enemies of the United States of America.”
In a written response to questions from The Daily Illini, Illini Republicans declined to comment on whether they were saying Good and Pretti deserved to be killed.
That’s all pretty chilling, even with the graphic being taken down.
Jesus, I hope no one in Pretti’s family ever sees that graphic.
Do we know how these people will feel about being referred to as jihadi terrorists? Because in that graphic, the masked shooter looks a lot more ISIS than Nazi.