By Dan Murphy
On December 8x, the last night of Hanukkah, 18-year old Gunnar Hassard, a student at SUNY Purchase, hung more than a dozen, Neo-Nazi posters across the campus. Hassard, from Oneonta and 18 years old, admitted the offenses after he was arrested by New York State University Police and charged by the Westchester District Attorney’s Office with Aggravated Harassment, a hate crime which specifically states a person is guilty of this crime when one “Etches, paints, draws upon or otherwise places a swastika, commonly exhibited as the emblem of Nazi Germany, on any building or other real property…”
The posters hung by Hassard feature a photo of Adolph Hitler with the phrase, “Don’t be stupid, be a smarty, come and join the Nazi Party.” The phrase is also a line from the Broadway play and movie The Producers. Some defenders of free speech have used the connection to the fact that Hassard is a theater student at Purchase to the possibility that he might have been posting the flyer as a joke, or that Hassard’s First Amendment Constitutional rights were violated with his arrest.
We reject both possibilities and believe that the posters were placed during Hanukkah, to inflict pain and fear among Jewish worshipers and residents of Westchester. We also take offense to the brazenness of Hassard to make this offense during the holiday season, a time when we should all come together.
So why do we feature this story in our Holiday edition of our weekly newspapers? Dennis Craig, Officer in Charge, SUNY Purchase, said it best, “We believe the best way to combat hate is with education and dialogue.”
The Westchester Commission on Human Rights stated, “We are disheartened and disappointed to hear that Nazi-themed posters were discovered on the campus of SUNY Purchase College. This message of hate was spread on the final night of Hanukkah, a religious holiday for the Jewish community. This anti-Semitic act and any other acts of prejudice or hate will not be tolerated within our County. We commend the immediate and appropriate response of Dennis Craig, Officer in Charge and Vice President of Student Affairs at SUNY Purchase, the diligent response of the Harrison Police Department and the Westchester County District Attorney’s office in apprehending and arresting the alleged perpetrator, who was charged with Aggravated Harassment in the First Degree, a class E felony. Our office remains vigilant in protecting the dignity and respect of all people in Westchester County.”
Westchester County District Attorney Anthony Scarpino charged Hassard with Harassment in the First Degree, a class E felony, for hanging posters with Nazi symbolism in areas of the campus. When confronted with video that showed Hassard putting up the flyers he confessed.
Dennis Craig, Officer in Charge SUNY Purchase said, “I regret to inform the community that yesterday, Nazi-themed posters were found in various spots around campus. That this hateful act took place on the last night of Hanukkah when our Jewish community members were celebrating the survival of their religion, makes it even more reprehensible. Please know that these posters, and any message of anti-Semitism and intolerance, go against our core values of diversity, acceptance, and understanding. Messages of hate, while becoming more and more prevalent in our country, have no place on our campus and will be treated with the utmost severity.”
A total of 16 posters were found on campus. The presence of a swastika on the flyer warranted the felony charge of aggravated harassment.
Governor Andrew Cuomo said, “I am disgusted by the discovery of neo-Nazi fliers at SUNY Purchase today, and I have directed the State Police Hate Crimes Unit to assist in the investigation. In NY we will not tolerate the toxic social dynamic that is spreading like cancer across the county and fueling hateful material like the Neo-Nazi flyers that were found on this campus.
Those behind this noxious act should know that these fliers only harden our resolve to combat hate in all its forms. We will not cower in the face of hate. While they spread fear, we will spread love,” said Cuomo.
Some posters online claimed that Hassard was either ‘joking’ when he placed 16 Hitler posters on campus, or he was within his first amendment rights to do so.
“As readers might gather, I have only contempt for neo-Nazis. But the statutory provision to which the D.A.’s office is referring, N.Y. Penal Law 240.31, is unconstitutional. The relevant part of the statute reads, Swastikas are constitutionally protected, just as are hammers and sickles or burning crosses or images of Chairman Mao or other symbols of murderous regimes and ideologies. Public speech intended to “harass, annoy … or alarm” groups of people (whether Jews or conservative Christians or blacks or whites) is constitutionally protected. Posting things on other people’s buildings isn’t protected, but the law can’t single out the posting of particular viewpoints for special punishment. And true threats of violence are unprotected, but the statute isn’t limited to them, and I’ve seen no evidence of a specific true threat here…this suggests that this might have been a joke gone awry by Hassard, who is apparently involved in theater; but, as I discuss below, the prosecution is unconstitutional in any event.
Another online skeptic posted , “The cityscape behind Hitler and below the Nazi flag looks pretty grim. It’s hard to tell but it could even be bombed out. And there’s a smiley face peeping out behind Hitler’s head. With the line from Mel Brooks’ The Producers ‘Don’t be stupid, be a smarty! Come and join the Nazi Party!’ that makes one weird pro-Nazi poster.”]
Hassard’s attorney says the case raises concerns over his client’s First Amendment rights. “Please wait until the evidence is in. Don’t go on anything you hear until there is a trial,” says Jay Solow, of Legal Aid of Westchester.
In Germany, the right wing AfD party, includes a Young Alternative membership that “have become increasingly close to anti-Semitic, and are openly revisionist and far-right members. Its most extreme major figure, Bjoern Hoecke, has demanded “a 180-degree shift” in the nation’s culture of remembrance and atonement over Nazi crimes and the Holocaust, and where neo-Nazis perform Hitler salutes at rallies,” writes Haaretz
