Banners supporting Kanye West’s anti-Semitic comments appear around United States

Banners supporting the recent comments made by rapper Kanye West about Jewish people have appeared in various places around the city of Los Angeles and Jacksonville this week, drawing condemnation from officials.

The banners, projected onto buildings, read “Kanye was right about the Jews,” referring to hateful remarks West recently made saying he was going to “go death con 3 [sic] on Jewish people.”

The comments got West banned from Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, and in the fallout West has lost several partnership deals that have plunged him out of billionaire status, including his most lucrative deal with Adidas, which announced on Tuesday it was cutting ties with West.

A banner supporting West’s remarks appeared at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Florida, on Saturday, as football teams from Florida and Georgia State Universities squared off.

The same message was projected onto at least one other nearby building in the area, according to a video posted to Twitter. The same message appeared over a freeway in Los Angeles earlier this weekend, with a group of individuals posing in a Nazi salute behind the banner.

Officials and members of the public in both cities have condemned the actions, saying the antisemetic behavior cannot be normalized.

Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón condemned the perpetrators on Twitter, writing, “We cannot tolerate the #AntiSemitism that was on full display today on an LA Fwy. #WhiteSupremacy is a societal cancer that must be excised. This message is dangerous & cannot be normalized. I stand with the Jewish community in condemning this disgusting behavior.”

In Jacksonville, the Jacksonville Jaguars, the University of Florida and the University of Georgia all publicly condemned the banners that appeared in the area over the weekend.

The two colleges released a joint statement that reads, “We strongly condemn the antisemitic hate speech projected outside TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville after the Florida-Georgia football game Saturday night and the other antisemitic messages that have appeared in Jacksonville.”

The statement continues, “The University of Florida and the University of Georgia together denounce these and all acts of antisemitism and other forms of hatred and intolerance. We are proud to be home to strong and thriving Jewish communities at UGA and UF, and we stand together against hate.”