Clearly, many attendees at the Punk Rock Bowling festival in Las Vegas during Memorial Day weekend received that .
A video has gone viral from the Punk Rock Bowling festival showing a man dressed in a shirt with a large “SS” bolts symbol on the back. This symbol was used by the Schutzstaffel when Germany was under Nazi control. Post-World War II, the “SS” bolts have been used primarily as a symbol representing white supremacy.
In the video, this man is seen being attacked by festival attendees, who are actively yelling at this man to leave. Among the things being yelled at him and security include, “No f—ing Nazis!,” “Take this Nazi out!,” and “Get out of our f—ing scene!”
The shirt the man was wearing is a known shirt design from the Dago Choppers, a biker gang based in Ocean Beach, Calif. , “Decades ago, some outlaw biker gangs appropriated several Nazi-related symbols, including the SS bolts, essentially as shock symbols or symbols of rebellion or non-conformity. Thus, ‘SS’ bolts in the context of the outlaw biker subculture does not necessarily denote actual adherence to white supremacy. However, because there are a number of racists and full-blown white supremacists within the outlaw biker subculture, sometimes it actually is used as a symbol of white supremacy. Often, the intended use and meaning of the ‘SS’ bolts in this context is quite ambiguous and difficult to determine.”
Here’s something rather easy to determine: Despite some biker gangs trying to reclaim its meaning, “SS” bolts are, more often than not, associated with Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler, and white supremisists. As far as Nazi symbols go, it’s a close second to the . What this man was thinking is unknown, but freedom of speech or expression doesn’t mean freedom from consequences. He rolled up to a punk festival wearing a large, well-known Nazi symbol. This is a textbook example of “f— around and find out,” and thank goodness he did.
