MEAWW.COM / NEWS / HUMAN INTEREST

What is 'The Protocols'? Fraudulent anti-Semitic document left at checkpoint, Capitol police officer suspended

'At the United States Capitol Police security checkpoint, someone had left vile anti-Semitic propaganda in plain sight,' tweeted Zach Fish, who is a congressional aide

A US Capitol Police officer was suspended on Monday, March 15, after an anti-Semitic document was found near his work area, according to the New York Post. A printed copy of the 'The Protocols of the Meetings of the Learned Elders of Zion' at a checkpoint inside an entrance to the Longworth House Office Building.

In his tweet, Zach Fish, the chief of staff for New York Representative Mondaire Jones said: “As I left my office in Longworth yesterday, I discovered something that, as a Jew, horrified me. At the United States Capitol Police security checkpoint, someone had left vile anti-Semitic propaganda in plain sight."

READ MORE

Who is Young Pharaoh? A look at his anti-Semitic past and conspiracy theories after CPAC drops guest speaker

Is Meyers Leonard canceled? Miami Heat center uses anti-Semitic slur on Twitch, sparks fury: 'Bigoted a**'

Talking about the suspension of the officer, Acting Chief Yogananda D. Pittman said in a statement: "We take all allegations of inappropriate behavior seriously. I immediately ordered the officer to be suspended until the Office of Professional Responsibility can thoroughly investigate.”

What is 'The Protocols'?

'The Protocols of the Meetings of the Learned Elders of Zion', also known simply as 'The Protocols', is a "fraudulent document" that served as a "pretext and rationale for anti-Semitism mainly in the early 20th century," according to Encyclopaedia Britannica. 'The Protocols' purports to document the minutes of a late-19th-century event attended by world Jewish leaders, the "Elders of Zion", who are conspiring to take over the world in a series of 24 (in other versions, 27) meetings held at Basel, Switzerland.

However, such meetings never happened and the claim was entirely false and baseless. 'The Protocols' document has been used by anti-Semites to spread suspicion about Jews and is considered to be one of the most successful anti-Semitic propaganda hoaxes used repeatedly in multiple countries, starting with the anti-Jewish pogroms in the Russian Empire in the 1900s.

"Jews and Freemasons were said to have made plans to disrupt Christian civilization and erect a world state under their joint rule. Liberalism and socialism were to be the means of subverting Christendom; if subversion failed, all the capitals of Europe were to be sabotaged," says the Encyclopaedia Britannica entry about the content of the document.

The Anti-Defamation League described 'The Protocols' as "a classic in paranoid, racist literature." As per a Washington Post report, the copy Fish found at the security checkpoint was "tattered and stained" and a "date stamp indicated it was printed in January 2019."

The report added that the department has been under intense scrutiny after the devastating Capitol riots on January 6. Fish, in his own tweet also wrote about this, saying: "Our office is full of people — Black, brown, Jewish, queer — who have good reason to fear white supremacists. If the USCP is all that stands between us and the mob we saw on Jan. 6, how can we feel safe?"

Netizens had their own two-cents to share about the incident. "I’m so sorry you had to see this, and maybe this officer wanted you to. I wouldn’t even be surprised if Marjorie Taylor Green left it for him. I believe that anti-semitism doesn’t get nearly enough attention - for reasons that are obvious," a tweet read.

"I am absolutely appalled @ZachFisch- I am glad you were able to report it. Sorry this is the world we still live in. Never lose hope for a better tomorrow!" another wrote. "Wonder if he removed barriers on January 6th?" one of the comments read. "That’s horrifying. I’m sorry you had to deal with that. I normally work in that building - thank you for what you did,"  one of the people remarked.