BALTIMORE (WAND) – Video showed a man giving a Nazi salute and yelling “Heil Hitler, Heil Trump” at a musical performance Wednesday night.
Police say the man who did it was Anthony Derlunas, 59. It happened during an intermission of a “Fiddler on the Roof” performance at the Hippodrome Theatre. Security escorted him out as a woman could be heard yelling “get out” at him.
Derlunas told authorities he had been drinking heavily. He said the play “reminded him of his hatred of (President) Donald Trump”, according to officers. Police did not arrest him, but NBC News says a follow-up investigation is underway.
The man’s outburst caused some performance attendees to brace for a potential shooting, with several people telling NBC News they expected Derlunas to pull out a gun. The network says a group of people ducked behind their seats in the theatre. No gun was ever shown.
Sick, sad world. A man stands at intermission of tonight’s performance of Fiddler in Baltimore and yells, “Heil Hitler,” along with pro-Trump references. pic.twitter.com/slDcPwF7re
— Rich Scherr (@writerguyRich) November 15, 2018
Leaders with the Hippodrome Theatre took to Twitter to speak out against Derlunas’ actions during the performance.
"We do not tolerate behavior like we saw last night during intermission at 'Fiddler',” their tweet said. “Security handled the situation swiftly. Our venue has a proud tradition of providing shared experiences to people from all walks of life and we will continue that tradition."
“Fiddler on the Roof” is about the life of a Jewish family in the early 1900s as they lived in a Russian village. It was first performed in 1964 and came back on Broadway in 2015.
A different man opened fire at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh more than two weeks ago, killing 11 people.
