The staunchly unvaccinated Anchorage mayor Dave Bronson defended a group of citizens who wore yellow Stars of David to a public meeting to protest a proposed mask mandate. The Wednesday evening meeting concluded with four people being arrested, including one man carrying a gun. After the arrests, which all occurred within the first half hour of the meeting, Bronson tried to justify the Stars of David to the audience. “That’s what the star really means: We will not forget, this will never happen again,” he said. “And I think us borrowing that from [Jewish people] is actually a credit to them.”

A Jewish Assembly member, Forrest Dunbar, read aloud from a letter from his rabbi during the meeting, calling the sight of the stars “heart-wrenching.” Quoting the rabbi, Dunbar said, “I believe it is a constitutional right to protest for your values. But I request that you do not use symbols that diminish the 6 million Jews who were murdered during the Holocaust.” An audience member took off his star and waved it at Dunbar as he spoke, taunting him. The same man later gave testimony calling another assembly member a “cocksucker.” According to The Alaska Landmine, the audience broke into “sustained cheering and applause.” Another public meeting is scheduled for Thursday evening.