About 100 students came out to see two white nationalists in front of the EMU on Thursday morning.
Jimmy Marr and an associate who only gave his first name, Chad, came to the University of Oregon campus to, “represent white nationalism in its true form and sense,” Chad said.
“We are not about genocide of any races or violence or harming any people,” Chad said.
Jack Melul rouses a crowd watching two white supremacists in front of the EMU. (Max Thornberry/Emerald)
Marr, whose twitter handle is GenocideJimmy, said that he was on campus as part of his journey to self-realization. Marr played bagpipes from the back of the truck. He said he was representing to people that he was Scottish and that it was impossible for a Scot to be a nazi.
Today, April 20, is the birthday of Adolf Hitler.
The presence of the white nationalists on campus caused a number of student tours to divert away from the EMU. Someone told Fiona De Los Rios, a sophomore, there were some neo-nazis hanging around the EMU and she should stay away. She said she had to come because of the current climate in Eugene.
“I have to be here,” she said. “I don’t think people feel safe on this campus anymore … I feel it’s not OK for people to just walk by when there’s neo-nazi stuff going on on campus.”
The crowd’s spirt was lifted when Jack Melul, a rabbi who runs Akiva on campus, danced in front of Chad, singing “The Jewish people are still alive,” in Hebrew.
“It felt amazing,” Melul said about the crowd joining him in singing. “That’s the way to fight. With happiness, with a smile, with singing.”
“For me, the biggest pride is to stand here and say, ‘the Jewish people are still alive,’” Melul said. “It’s an embarrassment to him. We’re still going, we’re still strong.”
Cooper Green contributed reporting to this article.
“Chad” carried a sign that read “No more wars for Israel.” (Levi Gittleman/Emerald)
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