On Saturday, protesters gathered outside a hat shop in Nashville that sold “unvaccinated” Star of David patches and compared vaccination records with the Nazi practice of requesting “your papers.”
The store, Hatwrks, said on Instagram in a post that was later deleted that it was selling the patches for $ 5. In an outbreak of anti-Semitic attacks across the country, the post was criticized on social media and off-store, where protesters held signs saying “No Nazis in Nashville” and “Sell hats, don’t hate”.
In a separate post on the store’s Instagram account, which also touted “mask-free shopping” and promoted the conspiracy theory that vaccines contain microchips, it says, “All unvaccinated people are segregated from society, tagged and required a mask wear. What’s next?”
The hat company Stetson said that “because of the objectionable content and opinions of Hatwrks,” the store would stop selling its products.
A post on the business’s account responding to the criticism reads, “I respect history a lot more by campaigning against the fallen than offering silence and compliance.” A later post apologized “for any insensitivity “and said,” my hope was to share my sincere concern and fear and to do everything possible to ensure that nothing “like the Holocaust” ever happens again.
Gigi Gaskins, who is the shopkeeper according to state records, didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The criticism of vaccination passports or the digital proof of a Covid-19 vaccination goes beyond the USA: demonstrators gathered in London and Brussels on Saturday to protest the vaccination requirements.
Oregon said last week that companies would need to check customers’ vaccination status before they could enter without a mask, despite corporate groups there questioning the practicality of the requirement. New York created the Excelsior Pass, but doesn’t require it to be widely used.
In Tennessee, Republican Governor Bill Lee signed law on Wednesday banning local governments from requiring businesses to review vaccination records.
