After reports surfaced that a man, during a performance of Fiddler on the Roof at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theater, shouted, “Heil Hitler, Heil Trump,” many in the media immediately presumed the agitator was a pro-Trump fanatic.
The founder of the pro-Hillary Clinton organizing group The New Agenda, Amy Siskind, tweeted:
MSNBC’s Malcolm Nance likewise suggested the man was animated by an affinity for Trump:
The founder of the left-wing organizing group Build the Wave, Ryan Knight, tweeted:
The author of “Hope an Other Superpowers,” John Pavlovitz, responded to a Lawrence O’Donnell tweet on the incident thusly:
MSNBC’s O’Donnell responded by “liking” Pavlovitz’s tweet.
Today The New York Times is reporting new information on the man behind the disturbance. According to a Baltimore police report, his name is Anthony Derlunas, he’s 58 years old — and hates Trump.
According to the police report, Mr. Derlunas said he had been “drinking heavily throughout the night.” He told officers he yelled the slogans because the final scene before intermission reminded him of his hatred for President Trump. According to the officer, Mr. Derlunas went on to say that the anger directed at him after his disruption was an indication of a high number of Mr. Trump’s supporters in the theater. Mr. Derlunas could not be reached for comment.
In other words, it wasn’t support of Trump that motivated the outburst, but hatred of Trump. We await corrections from those who speculated otherwise.