'No more Nazis!': The moment a flash mob of protesters surround a Holocaust denier who wears a swastika armband at the University of Florida
- Dozens of students surrounded Michael Dewitz, 34, chanting 'no more Nazis, ever again' and 'go home Nazis'
- Demonstration was sparked after Dewitz turned up wearing a swastika armband
- Three-hour protest only ended after police escorted Dewitz away from crowd
- He claims that he was later attacked by two men who stole his armband
- Dewitz claims he wore the homemade swastika armband as a social experiment
- But he went onto praise the Nazi party saying that they 'saved the world'
- The 34-year-old also questioned whether the Holocaust ever occurred
A Holocaust denier sparked a huge protest at the University of Florida today after he stood on campus wearing a swastika armband.
Dozens of students surrounded Michael Dewitz, 34, chanting 'no more Nazis, ever again' and 'go home Nazis' during his bizarre three-hour stand, held the day before Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Cellphone footage, posted by The Fine Print, revealed the tense atmosphere as demonstrators screamed in Dewitz's face while he stared straight ahead.
The stunt only ended when police escorted Dewitz away from the protesters, who held up anti-swastika signs.
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Dozens of students gathered around Michael Dewitz, 34, (center, in black) chanting 'no more Nazis, ever again' and 'go home Nazis' during his bizarre three-hour stand, held the day before Holocaust Remembrance Day
But shortly after he was led away, Dewitz claims he was 'jumped' by two men in a pickup truck who reportedly leaped out, struck him, and stole his jacket and swastika armband. Dewitz suffered minor injuries.
Police are hunting for two suspects, described as white, driving a red pickup truck.
Gainesville police said Dewitz has been spotted wearing his armband round campus for the past week.
While the highly offensive symbol had sparked outrage, they said they were not able to arrest him as he was exercising his rights under the First Amendment.
Protesters held up anti-swastika signs in his face as Dewitz stared straight ahead
One student decided to serenade Dewitz singing 'I love you. I love you,' on Thursday
The stunt only ended when police escorted Dewitz away from the protesters (right)
'We understand that his behavior is extremely offensive, but merely wearing this symbol is not a crime,' a spokesman said.
Dewitz claims that he had worn the homemade swastika armband as a social experiment.
'It was partially performance art, just to see people's reaction, like a social study of some sort, a sociological study,' he told WCJB.
But he went on to praise the Nazi party as a 'distinguished organization that saved the world.'
He also revealed he was a holocaust denier, telling the local channel: 'How can we know that any of that stuff can be verified?
'You don't know that your grandparents were necessarily in a concentration camp and if the Nazi's were evil. How can they remember being in one because they're not dead. Actually all that genetic nonsense, and Aryan stuff. That's ridiculous. That's disinformation,' Dewitz said.
Dewitz admits he lost his job on Wednesday after his employers refused to be associated with a swastika, the Independent Florida Alligator reports.
The stunt quickly attracted hundreds of protesters on the campus of the University of Florida
University of Florida President Kent Fuchs said that the university did 'not accept symbols of hate' and supported the peaceful protest on campus
University of Florida President Kent Fuchs said that the university did 'not accept symbols of hate' and supported the peaceful protest on campus.
'Swastikas are symbols associated with the Holocaust, which exterminated six million Jews as well as multitudes of individuals from other persecuted groups on the basis of their race, religion or sexual orientation,' he said in a statement.
'The University of Florida encourages inclusion, respect and empathy for others, not hate.'
He added that many people had pressed him to remove Dewitz from campus, but, 'while I decry and denounce all symbols of hate, the individual, who is not a faculty, staff member or student, was expressing his First Amendment rights and we could not legally remove him from public areas of campus.'
But Rabbi Goldman at UF's Lubavitch-Chabad Jewish Student Center said the swastika had sparked fear among students.
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