A group of White supremacist demonstrators protested a performance of the play “The Diary of Anne Frank” in Howell, Michigan, by waving Nazi flags across the street from the venue.

The performance, held Saturday at American Legion Post 141, was put on by the Fowlerville Community Theatre. The theater company and cast became aware of the neo-Nazi protesters during the first act and intermission.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we decided to notify the audience at intermission. … Although some were understandably shaken, they pulled together and finished the performance with strength and professionalism. … On Saturday evening, things became more real than we expected; The presence of protesters outside gave us a small glimpse of the fear and uncertainty felt by those in hiding,” Fowlerville Community Theatre said on social media.

The White supremacist protesters originally demonstrated in the American Legion parking lot but were asked to leave at around 7:40 p.m., at which point they crossed the street and continued to demonstrate, the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office told local news site MLive.com.

They were wearing masks with the number 1,488 on it, a White supremacist symbol referring to a 14-word slogan and the initials “HH” meaning “Heil Hitler,” H being the eighth letter in the alphabet, according to the Detroit Metro Times.


A former commander of the American Legion post, U.S. veteran Bobby Brite, posted a video of the protesters with their Nazi flags standing next to a police vehicle on the American Legion post’s Facebook page.

“The downside to hosting something like this is you bring out extremists … This is the kind of crap you have to put up with. These individuals are certainly seeking attention,” Mr. Brite said in the video.

Audience members were shaken and many requested an escort to their cars after the show.

“We had 75 people downstairs that watched that play and out of that 75, there were 50 or 60 of them that were afraid to leave this building. We had to escort them to their cars. No one in America should feel like that,” Mr. Brite told Detroit ABC affiliate WXYZ-TV.

The 1955 Pulitzer Prize-winning play is based on Anne Frank’s autobiographical book “Diary of a Young Girl,” which recounted her family’s efforts to hide from Nazis hunting for Jewish people during the German occupation of The Netherlands. She and her family were found, and she died at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1945.

Her book was first published by her father, Otto, in 1947.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.