16 August 29 • 2019
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CORRIE COLF STAFF WRITER
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANTHONY LANZILOTE
W
ith the Holocaust Memorial Center in
Farmington Hills as the backdrop, a rally the
evening of Aug. 20 protesting conditions at U.S.
detention centers organized by the Close the Camps Detroit
Coalition attracted a counter-protest by Metro Detroiters
Eugene Greenstein, Linda Stulberg and others. Unexpectedly
joining the counter-protesters were approximately 15 mem-
bers of the black-attired, all-male group Proud Boys.
Greenstein said he was uncertain how the Proud Boys
learned of the event, noting they were not invited by the
organizers of the counter-protest. Farmington Hills police
estimated approximately 200 people were in attendance, with
most listening to the Close the Camps Detroit program.
A representative of the Proud Boys who gave his name as
Columbus said his group “heard about this (the counter-pro-
test) through some of our friends, and we thought it was
pretty disgusting that they (the Close the Camps Coalition)
were out here politicizing the Holocaust. We wish that it
was anywhere but the Holocaust Memorial Center, but we
thought standing with them was more important than polit-
icizing it.
”
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) defines the Proud
Boys as “a right wing ‘
fraternity’
who present themselves as
defenders of conservative values and put a premium on con-
fronting or attacking leftists.
”
Members of the Proud Boys have been involved in violent
clashes in Portland, Ore., and New York. Jason Kessler, a
documented member of the Proud Boys, helped organize
the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va., in August
of 2017 that resulted in violence and the death of a young
woman.
Rabbi Brent Gutmann from Temple Kol Ami in West
Bloomfield was one of the voices heard at the Close the
Camps rally.
“We are led by many different people from many places
with different associations, but everyone is here as an indi-
vidual representing his or her own conscience,
” Gutmann
said. “For me, the goal of being here is to demand that every
human being deserves and receives dignity from our govern-
ment.
”
Rene Lichtman, a Hidden Child during the Holocaust, told
those assembled at the Close the Camps rally, “We are against
what is happening with ICE (Immigration and Customs
Enforcement) and the influence of (President) Trump. I
empathize a lot with the children who are being separated
from their families because that is what happened to me
during the Second World War. I barely knew my mother.
”
WHY THIS LOCATION?
The choice of location by Close the Camps was a source of
contention among counter-protesters.
“
As a Jew, I find it difficult and as an American, too,
” said
Rabbi Aryeh Spero of the Conference of Jewish Affairs, who
was the primary speaker to those assembled with the count-
er-protesters. Spero, a conservative thinker and pundit, is also
jews d
in
the
Members of the Proud Boys
pose for a group shot.
ARTHUR HORWITZ
THE OK HAND GESTURE
USED BY THE PROUD BOYS
While posing for pictures at the
counter demonstration, members of
the Proud Boys used a hand gesture
approximating an “OK” sign. According
to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL),
this hand sign has gained added
meaning, with white supremacist
groups “falsely promoting the gesture
as a hate symbol,” claiming it rep-
resented the letters “WP,” for “white
power.”
The ADL states that “because of
the traditional meaning of the ‘
OK’
hand gesture, as well as other usages
unrelated to white supremacy, partic-
ular care must be taken not to jump
to conclusions about the intent behind
someone who has used the gesture.”
Proud Boys join Jewish counter-protesters at the Close the Camp
Rally in front of the Holocaust Memorial Center.
Unexpected Visitors
Rene Lichtman protests migrant detention outside the Holocaust
Memorial Center in Farmington Hills.