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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.

