NPR: Nazi Uncle Sam Protests BPP Guests In San Francisco

Nazi Uncle Sam Protests BPP Guests In San Francisco

Filed under: News

This guy calls himself Joe Webb.

Courtesy of Good for the Jews

Rob Tannenbaum and David Fagin, known to BPP faithful as Good For the Jews, stopped by our studios a couple of weeks ago at the outset of their "Putting the Ha! in Hanukkah" tour. Turns out that wasn't the most distressing encounter the pair had this December.

This afternoon, I got an e-mail from Good for the Jews' publicist saying that a concert by the band had drawn a Nazi protest.

I just got off the phone with Rob, who confirmed. He says that Good for the Jews were setting up for their show at the Great American Music Hall in San Fransisco's Tenderloin District on Wednesday night when the club's promoter came up and told them, "Well, boys, you've made the big time. You have a protester outside."

Rob, who's also the music editor for Blender, says he went outside to see what was up, and sure enough, standing next to the folks lined up to see the concert was a guy dressed up as Uncle Sam, carrying a sign with plastic skulls hanging from it. Rob says asked him what was up, and the guy said, "I'm a Nazi. You can print that."

As you can see from the photo, this guy, who identified himself to Rob as Joe Webb, was carrying a sign and handing out handmade pamphlets that suggested a world-wide Jewish conspiracy. The usual thing, Rob says -- "Jews control the media. U.S. foreign policy is dictated by Jewish interest."

Mr. Nazi continued protesting until police arrived, Rob says. They told him he could continue to voice his opinion as long as he didn't block the entrance to the venue, and as long as he removed the skulls, which would hit the people standing in line when he swung his sign around. Webb apparently tried to yank them off the sign, and when he couldn't remove them, asked the officers for a knife.

"Any Jew, when confronted with a Nazi, is immediately going to feel a mixture of fear and anger," Rob says. Good for the Jews play in Los Angeles tonight, and the encounter doesn't seem to have fazed Rob. "I wish I could tap into the worldwide Jewish conspiracy," he says. "Maybe then we could stay in fancier hotel rooms."

Jacob Ganz

2:01 PM ET | 12-14-2007 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

I got the same press release -- my favorite part was this: "The police insisted that Mr. Webb not block the sidewalk, and asked him to remove the skulls -- which were swinging on pieces of rope and hitting people in the ticket line -- from his protest sign. "Do you have a knife I can use?" Mr. Webb said to the officers, who declined to provide him with a weapon."

Always a smart move, not giving the Nazi a knife.

Sent by Stewart | 5:25 PM ET | 12-14-2007

Not a big fan of Nazi's or hate, but I'm not a big fan of Isreal. I mean, any American that sympathizes with Zionism should be willing to give up their property to an American Indian. Lets put our religions aside, and live together peacefully.

Sent by Dave | 4:36 PM ET | 12-15-2007

Send a Comment

Comments are reviewed and edited by NPR prior to display. All comments will be read, but not all will be posted.

NPR reserves the right to read on the air and/or publish on its Web site or in any medium now known or unknown the e-mails and letters that we receive. We may edit them for clarity or brevity and identify authors by name and location. For additional information, please consult our Terms of Use.

E-mail this Page

Recipient's e-mail address:	» Up to twelve addresses, separated by commas.
Your e-mail address:
Your name:
Personal message (optional, 600 characters max):
Your NPR member station:
Are you a member of your local NPR station?	Yes No
Would you like to receive information from your local NPR member station? (see NPR's privacy policy)	Yes No
Please send me updates from NPR.	Yes No

(Information collected by NPR will be used solely for internal NPR or NPR member station purposes and only if you selected 'yes' above. See NPR's privacy policy for more information.)

Host

Alison Stewart

Welcome to 'The Bryant Park Project'

The Bryant Park Project started as a blog in the summer of 2007 and ended as a radio show and online community in July 2008. Read our frequently asked questions and discussion rules.