JANUARY 14 • 2021 | 15

MICHIGAN
FORESHADOWING
The U.S. Capitol siege took
place nine months after armed
anti-lockdown protesters gained
entry into the Michigan State
Capitol in Lansing in April.
“There were lessons to be
learned that weren’t,
” state Sen.
Jeremy Moss (D-Southfield),
who is Jewish, told Slate after
the Capitol riots. “This hap-
pened in Michigan on April
30, Washington in January, and
unless there’s a serious discus-
sion about how American gov-
ernance can be safe and secure,
nothing will change.
“The good news is that the
chief enabler will be gone. The
bad news is that no one will be
able to control them.
”
The Michigan State Capitol
in Lansing was closed the day
after the U.S. Capitol riot due
to a reported bomb threat. On
Monday, Jan. 11, state legisla-
tors met in Lansing to discuss

banning open-carry firearms in
the Capitol building.
NBC’s Andrea Mitchell also
reported that law enforcement
in the area said there was a
“strong Michigan contingent”
to the rioters at the capitol. At
least six people with Michigan
ties were arrested in connec-
tion with the U.S. Capitol riot,
according to the D.C. police.
At least one of them was
arrested on weapons charges,
another was arrested for unlaw-
ful entry and violating the 6
p.m. curfew put in place, and
four others were arrested for
violating the curfew as well.
In addition, several rioters
inside the capitol were also
identified as having ties to
neo-Nazi and extreme right-
wing groups.
Photos of rioters at the U.S.
Capitol show some wearing
antisemitic clothing, including
one wearing a sweatshirt read-
ing “Camp Auschwitz.
”

One rioter clad in all-black
directed antisemitic language at
an Israeli TV journalist cover-
ing the scene, JTA reported.
But at least one rioter was
Jewish: Aaron Mostofsky, the
son of a prominent New York
judge and former president
of the National Council of
Young Israel, wore a distinctive
large fur suit as he roamed the
Capitol, JTA reported.
Some commentators com-
pared the events at the Capitol
to the Beer Hall Putsch, a failed
1923 German coup attempt
by the Nazis that took place
a decade before Adolf Hitler
came to power.
Actor and former California
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger,
a Republican who was born in
Austria in 1947, went a step fur-
ther in an online video by com-
paring the riots to Krystallnacht,
the “night of broken glass” in
1938 that precipitated the Nazis’
mass round-up of Jews in con-

centration camps.
“The broken glass was in the
windows of the United States
Capitol,
” Schwarzenegger said.
“But the mob did not just shat-
ter the windows of the Capitol.
It has shattered the ideals we
took for granted.
”
Schwarzenegger also drew a
parallel to his own childhood
growing up in the shadow of
the Nazis: “I was surrounded
by broken men drinking away
their guilt with their participa-
tion in the most evil regime in
history,
” he said in the video.
“Not all of them were rabid
antisemites or Nazis. Many just
went along step by step down
the road. They were the people
next door.
”
President-elect Biden told
reporters the rioters “should
be treated as a bunch of thugs,
insurrectionists, [and] antisem-
ites,
” vowing that his Justice
Department would prosecute
those responsible.

Our practice specializes in General Dermatology

for all ages, Skin Cancer, Cosmetic Dermatology,

Surgical Dermatology and Mohs Surgery.

Tarana Mohammadi, MD
Kay Watnick, MD

Board Certified Dermatologist

Lindsay Sklar, MD

Board Certified Dermatologist
Board Certified Dermatologist
Fellowship Trained Mohs Surgeon

6900 Orchard Lake Road Suite 209

B E A U M O N T B U I L D I N G

westbloomfieldderm.com For appointments: 248.855.7500