Capitol rioter who wore ‘Camp Auschwitz’ sweatshirt arrested
A man wearing a “Camp Auschwitz” shirt stands among a mob of far-right demonstrators who stormed the US Capitol Wednesday. By ITV
By David Ian Klein January 13, 2021
Robert Keith Packer, the rioter pictured wearing the “Camp Auschwitz” sweatshirt” has been arrested, the New York Times reported.
In widely circulated photos, Packer could be seen in a Capitol atrium wearing a sweatshirt that read Camp Auschwitz, above a picture of a skull and the slogan “work brings freedom”– a loose translation of “Arbeit Macht Frei” which appeared on the gates of the Auschwitz concentration camp. The back of the sweatshirt simply read “Staff.”
Breaking: “Camp Auschwitz” Sweatshirt Guy has been identified.
The United States Marshall Service would like to award Robert Keith Packer of Virginia their coveted Silver Bracelet Award for his part in the storming of the US Capitol.https://t.co/CB3pVGsVUV pic.twitter.com/djoHxxiVth
— Roshan Rinaldi (@Roshan_Rinaldi) January 11, 2021
Since the pictures went viral, countless copycat paraphernalia began being sold across a variety of online outlets, prompting Jewish groups to quickly demand their removal.
Packer was taken into custody in Newport News, Virginia, where he resided, according to CNN who was the first to identify him.
It’s our birthday and we’re still celebrating!
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news.
This week we celebrate 129 years of the Forward. We’re proud of our origins as a Yiddish print publication serving Jewish immigrants. And we’re just as proud of what we’ve become today: A trusted source of Jewish news and opinion, available digitally to anyone in the world without paywalls or subscriptions.
We’ve helped five generations of American Jews make sense of the news and the world around them — and we aren’t slowing down any time soon.
As a nonprofit newsroom, reader donations make it possible for us to do this work. Support independent, agenda-free Jewish journalism and our board will match your gift in honor of our birthday!
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
