Neo-Nazis from the so-called “Goyim Defense League” display a Holocaust denial banner in San Antonio, Texas. Photo: Twitter.

National Jewish groups on Sunday condemned antisemitic displays projected across Jacksonville, Florida over the weekend, including at a college football game on Saturday. 

The messages, which were projected onto the side of Jacksonville’s TIAA Bank Field and other downtown landmarks, as well as physical banners on highway overpasses, included “Kanye is right about the jews[sic]!!!”, “End Jewish supremacy in America,” and “Honk if you know its[sic] the Jews.”

“We’re disgusted by hateful incidents that occurred across Florida this weekend, in which white supremacists and antisemites from CA, TN and NV joined Florida-based neo-Nazi crews for antisemitic banner drops, demonstrations, and laser projections,” the Anti-Defamation League said in a statement on Sunday. Other Jewish groups denouncing the displays included the American Jewish Committee (AJC) and World Jewish Congress (WJC). “Free speech has limits, and inciting violence through antisemitic and racist rhetoric crosses the line. We must not allow antisemites to threaten the very fabric of our society,” said WJC CEO Ronald Lauder.

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s department said that it has not identified any crime associated with the displays and that they are protected by the first amendment.

Local politicians condemned the incidents including Jacksonville’s Mayor Lenny Curry (R) and Congressman John Rutherford (R-FL-4).

However, former-governor Charlie Crist, the current Democratic candidate for governor, criticized Governor Ron DeSantis (R), who was in attendance at the Florida v. Georgia game, for not speaking out. “Anti-Semitism is spreading in our state and Governor DeSantis refuses to condemn it — even when it’s broadcast on the side of a stadium he’s in. It’s disgusting. It’s a failure of leadership,” Crist said on Sunday.

After two days without a comment, DeSantis released a statement condemning the incidents on Monday evening.

While it’s not clear what individuals or groups are specifically responsible for displaying the messages, the tactics and content are consistent with the actions of the so-called “Goyim Defense League” (GDL), a neo-Nazi group that has carried out antisemitic leafleting campaigns, highway banner displays, and other stunts across the country.

The GDL’s leader, Jon Minadeo Jr., filmed himself in Jacksonville celebrating the projection near the football stadium. “It’s free speech, Jews. F— you. Kanye is right about the Jews,” he says in the video.

While the GDL has carried out actions across the country, the Anti-Defamation League describes them as “a small network of virulently antisemitic provocateurs” and that they “work alone, in small local cliques and occasionally travel across the country to participate in extended antisemitic events.”