Man shouting 'Heil Hitler, Heil Trump' disrupts 'Fiddler on the Roof' performance
A man shouting anti-Semitic and pro-Trump remarks interrupted a performance of 'Fiddler on the Roof' in Maryland on Wednesday night, causing some spectators to fear a shooting was about to take place.
Patrons at Baltimore's Hippodrome Theatre say they were frightened during the show's intermission when a man sitting in the balcony stood up and began shouting "Heil Hitler" and "Heil Trump."
Audience member Rich Scherr, 49, told the Baltimore Sun that the man's outburst caused chaos among theatergoers.
"People started running," he said. "I'll be honest, I was waiting to hear a gunshot. I thought, 'Here we go.'"
The man was escorted out after a few minutes and the show, which focuses on the plight of a Jewish family facing prosecution in Russia, went on as planned. Scherr, however, said he couldn't even focus on the rest of the play.
"My heart was just racing," he said. "I didn’t even really pay attention to the second act."
Wednesday's incident comes on the heels of October's mass shooting at a Pittsburgh, Penn., synagogue that left 11 dead. The Tree of Life shooting was the most deadly anti-Semitic attack on U.S. soil in history, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
Anti-Semitic incidents rose almost 60 percent in 2017 alone, the largest single-year increase on record, according to CNN, with 1,986 cases of harassment, vandalism or physical assaults against Jewish people or institutions being reported.
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