U.S. Holocaust museum alarmed over 'hateful speech' by white nationalists
"The Holocaust did not begin with killing; it began with words"
By Ian Simpson
WASHINGTON
(Reuters) - The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum expressed alarm on
Monday over "hateful speech" at a white nationalist meeting over the
weekend, and a restaurant apologized for hosting the group after a woman
tweeted a picture of herself making a Nazi salute.
The
National Policy Institute, a think tank that is part of the alt-right
movement that includes neo-Nazis, white supremacists and anti-Semites,
held a gathering at the federally owned Ronald Reagan Building on
Saturday.
The
alt-right movement came to the fore during the U.S. presidential
election. President-elect Donald Trump has drawn criticism for naming
Steve Bannon, former head of a website linked to the alt-right, as his
chief White House strategist.
Trump's transition team issued a statement on Monday saying Trump has continued to denounce racism, CNN reported.
"President-elect
Trump has continued to denounce racism of any kind and he was elected
because he will be a leader for every American," Trump-Pence Transition
spokesman Bryan Lanza said in a statement.
The
gathering on Saturday drew scores of protesters who blocked traffic
around the building to express their outrage over the meeting.
A
video by The Atlantic taken inside the conference showed Richard
Spencer, leader of the National Policy Institute, shouting, "Hail Trump,
hail our people, hail victory!" as some of the people in attendance
lifted their hands in a Nazi salute.
"The
Holocaust did not begin with killings: it began with words," the
Holocaust Memorial Museum said in a statement. "The museum calls on all
American citizens, our religious and civic leaders and the leadership of
all branches of the government to confront racist thinking and divisive
hateful speech."
Some
of those who attended the nationalist meeting later gathered for a
banquet at Maggiano's Little Italy restaurant in northwest Washington.
Protesters converged on the site and prompted the restaurant to close to
protect the safety of staff and guests, the management said in an
apology on Facebook.
The
restaurant said the booking was a last-minute affair made under a
different name, so staff were unaware that the National Policy Institute
was dining there and did not know what the group represented.
"After
the event, an attendee sent a tweet in which she made a 'Seig Heil
salute' in support of Hitler and white supremacy. This expression of
support of Hitler is extremely offensive to us, as our restaurant is
home to teammates and guests of every race, religion and cultural
background," the Facebook post said.
The
restaurant apologized to the surrounding neighborhood and said it was
donating the profits from its sales on Friday, $10,000, to the
Washington office of the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish civil rights
group.
The
Ronald Reagan Building, the biggest structure in the U.S. capital city,
is federally owned, but run by Trade Center Management Associates, a
unit of Drew Co., a Boston real estate development company.
The
firm defended allowing the nationalist group to use the venue. It said
in a statement that its contract mandates that unless there is a
security threat by an organization or person who asks for meeting space,
the building is available for rental.
The
agenda of the National Policy Institute's Saturday meeting included a
breakdown of the 2016 election and plans for the growth of the
alt-right.
The
nonprofit Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups,
described Spencer as an "academic racist" who backs creation of an Aryan
homeland.
Twitter Inc suspended several accounts linked to the alt-right last week, including Spencer's.
The move followed the microblogging service's announcement that it would upgrade some features to better combat cyber-bullying.
(Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh, Andrew Hay and Lisa Shumaker)
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