Norfolk, Va. - Residents in a Ghent neighborhood were shocked on Friday morning when noticed a neighbor had hung a flag with Nazi symbols on it outside his home on Mowbray Arch.
A neighbor shared pictures of the flag on Facebook and it received quite a reaction.
The man who hung the flag refused to interview on camera unless his comments were unedited, which is not our policy. But he did say his actions were inspired by President Obama taking executive authority on immigration on Thursday night.
A post on a friend’s Facebook page about the flag caused Beth Brooker to visit the Ghent neighborhood on her way to work and confront the homeowner.
“I wanted to have a dialogue with him as to why he hung that hate flag out in the neighborhood,” Beth says.
Instead of a dialogue, Beth said she was peppered with insults. But the video shows she kept her cool and continued the conversation going.
“It’s amazing how somebody can have so much hate in them and feel it’s okay to express themselves. Granted, there’s freedom of speech. He can do and say whatever he wants to, but I think you need to have some respect for people in this country. And that flag represents nothing but hate,” Beth says.
NewsChannel 3’s Barbara Ciara went to the house after talking to Beth and noticed the homeowner had taken the flag down and kept it down. A man who identified himself as Dr. William Wheeler invited her inside.
He said, “I am not a Nazi. I am half-Jewish. I hung the flag after watching President Obama last night. Obama usurped his Oath of Office. I wanted people to be shocked because I am offended.”
While Beth understands that Dr. Wheeler has an issue with the President, she thinks he could have found a better way to express it.
“They don’t seem to get it. Who do they have the flag? Why did they put it out? And she told me it’s not different than putting out the American flag. And yeah, it is, because the American flag isn’t about suppressing one group of people and the Nazi flag is,” Beth says.
Dr. Wheeler says for those who are offended by what he did, he says he is offended by Obama bumper stickers and everything that the President stands for. And if you are shocked by his actions, that was his goal.
