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| Louisiana Congressman Retracts Video Filmed at Auschwitz | Louisiana Congressman Retracts Video Filmed at Auschwitz |
| (about 20 hours later) | |
| A Louisiana congressman came under fire on Tuesday for a video he filmed at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum in which he used footage of the former extermination camp as a backdrop to illustrate his sentiment that the American military “must be invincible.” | |
| By Wednesday afternoon, he had apologized and retracted the video. | |
| The retraction came after the memorial’s official Twitter account chastised the congressman, United States Representative Clay Higgins, writing: “Everyone has the right to personal reflections. However, inside a former gas chamber, there should be mournful silence. It’s not a stage.” | |
| It followed that message with a picture of a sign posted at the entrance of the building containing gas chambers, which asks that visitors maintain silence to show respect for the memory of the thousands of people who died there. | It followed that message with a picture of a sign posted at the entrance of the building containing gas chambers, which asks that visitors maintain silence to show respect for the memory of the thousands of people who died there. |
| Mr. Higgins, 55, a Republican from Louisiana’s Third Congressional District with a penchant for making provocative videos, described the killings that took place at Auschwitz-Birkenau in German-occupied Poland at length in a five-minute video posted on YouTube on July 1. He said that the site, where over 1.1 million people were killed, inspired a “great sense of dread” in him. | Mr. Higgins, 55, a Republican from Louisiana’s Third Congressional District with a penchant for making provocative videos, described the killings that took place at Auschwitz-Birkenau in German-occupied Poland at length in a five-minute video posted on YouTube on July 1. He said that the site, where over 1.1 million people were killed, inspired a “great sense of dread” in him. |
| “This is why Homeland Security must be squared away, why our military must be invincible,” he said at one point, walking through what is now a memorial and museum. | “This is why Homeland Security must be squared away, why our military must be invincible,” he said at one point, walking through what is now a memorial and museum. |
| At the end of the video, he adds, “It’s hard to walk away from gas chambers and ovens without a very sober feeling of commitment, unwavering commitment, to make damn sure that the United States of America is protected from the evils of the world.” | At the end of the video, he adds, “It’s hard to walk away from gas chambers and ovens without a very sober feeling of commitment, unwavering commitment, to make damn sure that the United States of America is protected from the evils of the world.” |
| Late Wednesday afternoon, Mr. Higgins’s office released a statement from him, saying: “I filmed the Auschwitz message with great humility. My intent was to offer a reverent homage to those who were murdered in Auschwitz and to remind the world that evil exists, that free nations must remember, and stand strong. However, my message has caused pain to some whom I love and respect. For that, my own heart feels sorrow. Out of respect to any who may feel that my video posting was wrong or caused pain, I have retracted my video.’’ | Late Wednesday afternoon, Mr. Higgins’s office released a statement from him, saying: “I filmed the Auschwitz message with great humility. My intent was to offer a reverent homage to those who were murdered in Auschwitz and to remind the world that evil exists, that free nations must remember, and stand strong. However, my message has caused pain to some whom I love and respect. For that, my own heart feels sorrow. Out of respect to any who may feel that my video posting was wrong or caused pain, I have retracted my video.’’ |
| Representative Higgins, a former military police officer for the Louisiana National Guard, is familiar with the power of short video clips. His rise in politics is partly attributable to a series of videos he made on behalf of the Crime Stoppers program of St. Landry Parish in Central Louisiana. | Representative Higgins, a former military police officer for the Louisiana National Guard, is familiar with the power of short video clips. His rise in politics is partly attributable to a series of videos he made on behalf of the Crime Stoppers program of St. Landry Parish in Central Louisiana. |
| The videos, for which he improvised his own comments on specific crimes, found a sizable audience online. One such clip even made its way to “The Tonight Show” with Jimmy Fallon in the summer of 2015. | The videos, for which he improvised his own comments on specific crimes, found a sizable audience online. One such clip even made its way to “The Tonight Show” with Jimmy Fallon in the summer of 2015. |
| “I want that guy to run for president,” Mr. Fallon joked at the time. “I love him!” | “I want that guy to run for president,” Mr. Fallon joked at the time. “I love him!” |
| Soon, Mr. Higgins was using video clips to mount his 2016 congressional campaign. | Soon, Mr. Higgins was using video clips to mount his 2016 congressional campaign. |
| He has attracted criticism on social media several times since his election, most recently last month when he posted on Facebook soon after a terrorist attack on London Bridge on June 3 that the free world was “at war with Islamic horror” and that “not a single radicalized Islamic suspect should be granted any measure of quarter.” | He has attracted criticism on social media several times since his election, most recently last month when he posted on Facebook soon after a terrorist attack on London Bridge on June 3 that the free world was “at war with Islamic horror” and that “not a single radicalized Islamic suspect should be granted any measure of quarter.” |
| “Kill them all,” Mr. Higgins concluded the post. “For the sake of all that is good and righteous. Kill them all.” | “Kill them all,” Mr. Higgins concluded the post. “For the sake of all that is good and righteous. Kill them all.” |
| In his video from the former extermination camp, Mr. Higgins was comparatively sober, touring the site and speaking directly to the camera about what he was learning. At one point in the video, which has a mournful dirge as a soundtrack, he emphasizes the importance of historical memory in preventing tragedies like the one the camp witnessed. “We must remember these things,” he said. “Man’s inhumanity to man can be quite shocking.” | In his video from the former extermination camp, Mr. Higgins was comparatively sober, touring the site and speaking directly to the camera about what he was learning. At one point in the video, which has a mournful dirge as a soundtrack, he emphasizes the importance of historical memory in preventing tragedies like the one the camp witnessed. “We must remember these things,” he said. “Man’s inhumanity to man can be quite shocking.” |