The far-right demonstrators seen waving Nazi flags outside Walt Disney World in Orlando last week have been identified as a local organization known as the Order of the Black Sun, according to experts who specialize in hate groups.
Ben Popp, an investigative researcher for the Anti-Defamation League, told the Orlando Sentinel that the group, which is known by its initials “OBS,” is “a small white supremacist network based in the state of Florida.”
“They formed earlier this year, from individuals who have been involved in other whites supremacist groups and organizations in the state of Florida for the past couple of years,” Popp said.
“So these individuals are well known to us.”
Popp told the Sentinel that OBS and other extremist organizations “work together in the state of Florida in order to make themselves appear bigger than they are to both intimidate communities, but also to normalize their anti-Semitism and normalize their other forms of hate as well.”
“You know, they want these sorts of things to be a common occurrence. So that people will sort of get used to this and become desensitized.”
“That’s really their whole goal is to desensitize communities to their hate,” Popp told the Sentinel.
Anna Eskamani, a state legislator who represents Orlando in the Florida House of Representatives, posted brief clips on her Twitter account on Saturday showing several individuals waving flags with the infamous swastika as well as other fascist symbols and homophobic signs outside the famous theme park.
Eskamani’s images showed a banner touting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign.
“It’s absolutely disgusting to see what has become a common presence of Nazis in Florida, and even more disturbing when they are holding signs and flags that signal support for people like Gov. DeSantis,” Eskamani said in a statement.
“Every person, regardless of political ideology, should condemn this.”
The Post has sought comment from Disney and DeSantis.
Abigail Disney, the granddaughter of the late Roy Disney Sr., who co-founded The Walt Disney Company alongside his younger brother, Walt, reacted to the images by tweeting over the weekend that her grandfather was “spinning in his grave.”
About 15 people in total protested outside the theme park for about two hours, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office told USA Today, adding that no arrests were made.
“We are aware of these groups that aim to agitate and incite people with anti-Semitic symbols and slurs. They are also aware of the law,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
“The Orange County Sheriff’s Office deplores hate speech in any form, but people have the First Amendment right to demonstrate.”
Disney has been at the center of a political firestorm that has pitted the entertainment giant against the Florida governor, who recently announced his candidacy for the GOP nomination for president.
The company has sued DeSantis after his administration stripped the Mouse House of semi-autonomous control over the specially created tax district that oversees zoning on the land where the theme parks were built.
Disney has alleged that DeSantis violated the company’s First Amendment rights to free expression after it came out against the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” legislation that bars sex and gender identity education for children before the third grade.
Walt Disney World in Orlando is a major destination for LGBTQ visitors during Pride Month.
This story originally appeared on NYPost
