(The Center Square) – Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and the state lawmaker LGBTZ+ caucus condemned a group of neo-Nazis that turned out at a weekend pride parade in Watertown.
“This is a disgusting and direct attack on our state’s LGBTQ community, communities of color and Jewish Wisconsinites,” Evers said. “Nazis, swastikas, and any other anti-LGBTQ, white supremacist or anti-Semitic messages, symbols or groups are unacceptable and unwelcome in Wisconsin. Period.”
The Watertown Daily Times reported a group of a dozen or so men and women, all wearing black and carrying a swastika flag, showed-up at the Pride in the Park event.
Wisconsin’s LGBTQ+ Caucus also spoke out about the neo-Nazis.
“The hate and violent threats on display on Saturday in Watertown cannot be tolerated. We condemn these statements and the lies that they are based on,” the group of lawmakers said in a statement. “This kind of hatred grows when it is tolerated by our political leaders. We are deeply disturbed that Rep. Barbara Dittrich, [R-Oconomowoc], and Rep. Janel Brandtjen, [R-Menomonee Falls], chose to post about other protests at the event without any mention of the violent threats on display. When you find yourself aligned with Neo-Nazis, it is time to re-evaluate your choices.”
Dittrich took to X, formerly known as Twitter, over the weekend to support parents who also were at the event to protest a drag show.
“If you want to have a drag show, ROCK ON,” Dirrtich said in a tweet. “But do it in an indoor space without children.”
She thanked a pair of parents groups that protested the show, and then immediately added her condemnation of the neo-Nazis who were also in Watertown on Saturday.
“I have learned that a neo-Nazi group decided to shake things up outside the open air drag show in Watertown [Saturday.] I find that loathsome,” Dittrich tweeted. “How shamefully far things have descended in our communities between sexualizing kids and disturbing hate groups.”
The Watertown Daily Times identified the Nazi group as members of The Blood Tribe and reported the group left after about 45 minutes.
