Fanned by rapper Kanye West's remarks, demonstrators unfurled anti-Semitic banners above the 405 Freeway in Los Angeles at the weekend.
“Kanye is right about the Jews”, read one of the banners.
Another asked drivers to “Honk if you know".
The demonstrators gave Nazi salutes as they stood on the overpass of one of America’s busiest motorways, local media said.
The acts of anti-Semitism has shocked many and shaken the community.
“I think it's really a very concerning thing because it is something that basically is spewing a hateful ideology and ideas at a time when we are, as a community, really working to push back against hate,” said Robin Toma, executive director of Los Angeles County’s Commission on Human Relations.
Mr Toma, whose organisation tracks hate speech and crimes in America's most populated county, said hate crimes in general were on the rise.
The incident on the motorway appears to have been fuelled by West’s recent tirades against Jewish people.
The rapper, who now goes by Ye, has a long history of controversial comments and recently tweeted that he was “going def con 3 on Jewish people".
“This banner drop is proof positive that Kanye West's anti-Semitic rhetoric is serving as an accelerant for extremists,” said Jeffrey Abrams, the LA regional director of the Anti-Defamation League.
West has since been suspended from Twitter and Instagram, although he has recently committed to buying the right-wing social media platform Parler.
"It is incredibly disappointing when celebrities use their star power to amplify hateful ideas,” Mr Toma told The National.
“I think that whenever a celebrity expresses views that are so hateful or potentially dangerous … it can lead to potentially more acts of hate, including hate crime and hate violence.”
Mr Abrams and the ADL are calling on companies who are in business with West to dissociate themselves from the controversial celebrity.
“What we hope is that companies like adidas and Gap who are partners with Kanye West will take action,” he told The National.
“We hope that this is a catalysing moment. When people of good faith, Jewish and non-Jewish come together, and again with a clarion voice, speak that they will not tolerate this.”
The banners over the motorway were not the only anti-Semitic incident in Los Angeles over the weekend.
Police in Beverly Hills are investigating several flyers that were distributed in the upscale neighbourhood on Sunday that propagated racist stereotypes against Jewish people.
-
Kanye West has been in the news after he made a series of anti-Semitic comments. Adidas has severed ties with the rapper. AP -
West at the BET Awards 2022 in Los Angeles in June. Reuters -
The rapper at the Givenchy spring/summer 2023 fashion show in Paris in October. AFP -
West performs at Rolling Loud New York at Citi Field in September. Getty Images / AFP -
With his former wife Kim Kardashian at the WSJ Magazine Innovator Awards in 2019. AP -
West on stage at the Coachella festival in California in 2019. AP -
The rapper holds a rally for his presidential bid in North Charleston, South Carolina, in July 2020. Reuters -
West wears a Make America Great Again cap to meet president Donald Trump in the White House in 2018. AFP -
He watches basketball team the Golden State Warriors play the Boston Celtics in March. Photo: USA Today Sports -
With Kim Kardashian and basketball player J Cole at the 69th NBA All-Star Game in Chicago in 2020. AFP -
West and Julia Fox, who briefly dated him after his split with Kim Kardashian, at Paris Fashion Week. Getty Images -
The rapper performs during the closing ceremony for the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada. AFP -
West and Kim Kardashian with Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni in Entebbe. AP -
He was a Trump supporter. AP -
West on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in Los Angeles. AP -
He performs at Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, in 2010. Rich-Joseph Facun / The National -
Running for president in North Charleston. AP -
West takes the mic from singer Taylor Swift as she accepts an MTV Video Music Award 2009. He said Beyonce should have won instead. AP Photo -
The rapper with his mother Donda in 2007. Getty Images -
He arrives for a benefit concert at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 2016. EPA
Former president Donald Trump recently came under criticism for comments that many construed as anti-Semitic when he suggested American Jews were disloyal to him on his social-media platform, Truth Social.
“US Jews have to get their act together and appreciate what they have in Israel — Before it is too late," Mr Trump wrote.
The White House condemned the former president’s comments as anti-Semitic.
Meanwhile, MRC has said it will not be releasing a documentary with West.
“We cannot support any content that amplifies his platform,” top executives at the independent production company behind hits such as Knives Out said on Monday.
The Creative Artists Agency (CAA), West's touring representative, dropped him as well, and luxury fashion house Balenciaga has ended a lucrative deal with him.
And on Tuesday, shoemaker Adidas terminated its multi-million dollar contract with the pariah.
“Adidas does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech,” the company also said in a statement. “Ye’s recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, and they violate the company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness.”
Trump's alt-right rallies in the US - in pictures
-
Supporters of former US president Donald Trump and America First ideology participate in Stop the Steal and Million Maga (Make America Great Again) March protests after the 2020 presidential election was called for Joe Biden. Reuters -
A woman wears a jacket reading 'Maga King' at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Dallas, Texas. Reuters -
A new take on the red Maga hat seen at CPAC in Dallas. Reuters -
Mr Trump tosses Maga hats to the crowd as he arrives for a Save America rally at the Delaware County Fairgrounds in Delaware, Ohio. EPA -
Maga Mall president Ronald Solomon sells merchandise at CPAC. Reuters -
A liberal voter in Georgia said that Trump supporters have made it impossible to ever wear a red hat again. Reuters -
A Trump supporter sells merchandise during the Save America rally at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds in Conroe, Texas. Getty Images / AFP -
During the 2016 presidential election, it was found that a large portion of Maga merchandise was made in China. Getty Images / AFP -
Texans at the Save America rally earlier this year. Getty Images / AFP -
Despite no evidence of fraud and Joe Biden's certification by Congress, Maga supporters still insist that Mr Trump won the 2020 presidential election. Reuters -
Maga supporters in Scottsdale, Arizona, kit out their dogs. Reuters -
People cheer at a Maga rally in Sarasota, Florida. Getty Images / AFP -
The Republican Party of Florida co-sponsored this Maga rally last year. Getty Images / AFP -
A woman wears a red Maga hat in Sarasota. Getty Images / AFP -
For some, Maga isn't just a movement, it is a way of life. Getty Images / AFP -
A Maga supporter speaks during a rally. Getty Images / AFP -
A Trump supporters in Sarasota shows his Maga pride. Getty Images / AFP
