Second Suspect Arrested in Antisemitic Display in Florida

By Hamodia Staff

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) on Monday announced the arrest of a second suspect for hanging antisemitic hate banners along Daryl Carter Pkwy Bridge in Orlando in June.

Anthony Altick, 36, was arrested by FDLE officers for hanging the banners on public property without permission, punishable under a new state law, House Bill 269, which prohibits individuals from displaying or projecting any sort of images onto a building, structure, or property without permission.

Jason Brown, 48, of Cape Canaveral, was arrested last week on a charge related to the same incident.

The banners, containing swastikas and other antisemitic messages, were hung on June 10, 2023, by four individuals.

The arrests are unique, as hate speech that does not directly incite violence is typically viewed as constitutionally protected free speech under the First Amendment.

However, police were able to make the arrests due to a violation of HB 269. Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Mark Glass said in a statement regarding the first arrest that the new law gives “the tools to arrest this hate-filled radical… This activity will not be tolerated in the greatest state in the country, Florida.”

Florida has seen an uptick in recent months of antisemitic pamphleteering and harassment from organizations including the Goyim Defense League, a neo-Nazi group. Jewish community activists tell Hamodia that the GDL has blocked Jewish people from walking on Florida streets, and has organized threatening demonstrations, including one incident in which group members displayed cooking grills, compared them to the crematoria of Auschwitz, and asked people if they are ‘large enough for you,’ among other similar actions.

The two suspects are said to be members of a hate group named “Order of the Black Sun.”