Protesters waved Nazi flags outside a community theater production of “The Diary of Anne Frank” in Michigan, leaving performers "understandably shaken" by the hateful display, officials said Monday.
The shocking protest by a handful of masked men happened Saturday night outside American Legion Post 141 in Howell, where the play by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett was being staged.
Even though American Legion staff members had the swastika-waving protesters "under control" and "moved off the property," show producers decided to inform everyone in the house at intermission about what was happening outside.
"For this production, our cast was also on stage in character during intermission, which was when they found out as well," the Fowlerville Community Theater said in a statement.
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"Although some were understandably shaken, they pulled together and finished the performance with strength and professionalism."
Livingston County sheriff's deputies were called about a "disturbance" at 7:43 p.m., officials said.
The five masked demonstrators "were asked to leave the property and did," Sheriff Michael Murphy said in a statement.
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The agitators "went across the street and waved flags adorned" with swastikas before a "subject then approached them, and an argument ensued," Murphy said.
"Nothing physical transpired and ultimately the parties involved separated," he added.
Michigan has been a hot spot of U.S. politics as one of the swing states that shifted right and delivered a narrow victory for President-elect Donald Trump.
"We are disgusted by the far-right extremists who praised Hitler and waved Nazi flags outside of an American Legion hosting the play 'The Diary of Anne Frank,' and we stand with American Legion 141" and Howell Township for showing they "know that hate doesn’t belong in their community," the Michigan Anti-Defamation League said in a statement.
The Fowlerville Community Theater drew direct parallels between the play — adapted from the famed diary of Anne Frank, a Jewish girl killed by Nazis in the Holocaust — and the events of Saturday night.
“This production centers on real people who lost their lives in the Holocaust, and we have endeavored to tell their story with as much realism as possible," the theater said in its statement. "On Saturday evening, things become more real than we expected."
"The presence of protesters outside gave us a small glimpse of the fear and uncertainty felt by those in hiding," it said.
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