Manoogian Blasts Cruz Over Remarks Defending Nazi Salute

BIRMINGHAM, MI — Birmingham Representative Mari Manoogian blasted U.S. Senator Ted Cruz for defending a man who gave a Nazi salute at a Birmingham school board meeting in August as a form of protest, during a Wednesday hearing with Attorney General Merrick Garland.

"You don’t know our community—unlike you, we don’t tolerate Nazi salutes or “Heil Hitler” chants at our school board meetings," Manoogian said. "That’s not protest, it’s antisemitism. And if you can’t see that, then maybe you shouldn’t be a United States Senator."

The incident Cruz was referring to happened in August at a Birmingham school board meeting meeting about a student mask mandate where a man was thrown out for giving the giving the Nazi salute and chanted “Heil Hitler.”

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In an exchange with Garland over whether such threats warrant Justice Department involvement, Cruz slammed his hands on the table and said, "My God! A parent did a Nazi salute at a school board because he thought the policies were oppressive," the Washington Post reported.

After drawing criticism from a social media video showing Cruz asking Garland if giving a Nazi salute is protected under the first amendment, he tried to clarify his comments on twitter as defending authoritarian policies.

"The parent was doing the Nazi salute because he was calling the authoritarian school board Nazis—evil, bad and abusive, Cruz said. "And yes, calling someone a Nazi is very much protected by the First Amendment."