Concerns are mounting over Trump’s pick to lead the Pentagon, Fox News host and military veteran Pete Hegseth. CBS News reports that Hegseth was one of 12 National Guard members who were removed as guards for President Biden’s 2021 inauguration over possible extremist ties. Hegseth has tattoos associated with the white supremacist and neo-Nazi movements, including what’s known as a Jerusalem cross, a symbol used by Christian nationalists. In related news, the government watchdog Accountable.US announced it’s launching a “Trump Accountability War Room” to monitor Trump’s appointments and executive actions as he takes up his second term.
  • nelly_man@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    9 hours ago

    Were you linking to a specific entry in their database? The link took me to the database as a whole, and I couldn’t find any mention of the Jerusalem Cross when searching it.

    When searching elsewhere, I see similar results as the above commenter. There’s mostly discussions of its Christian meaning and some reddit posts that argue that it’s a symbol of hate due to its association with the crusades.

    However, there was a different post from somebody who got a tattoo of it and was worried when people said it gave them Nazi-ish vibes. The commenters on the post assured him that it’s not a white supremacist symbol, but it was probably reminding people of the Iron Cross.

      • nelly_man@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        5 hours ago

        White supremacist anti-Muslim narratives generally refer to Islam as an invading force that isn’t just incompatible with Western society but is also an active threat to Western society and cultural norms. In this context, white supremacists have used Crusader-themed imagery and rhetoric, like the Jerusalem Cross, the Knights Templar and “Deus Vult,” as dog whistles to promote anti-Muslim hate.

        Ah yes, there it is. That does seem to correlate with one of the reddit posts that I saw, but they didn’t seem to agree that this symbol had been adopted by contemporary hate groups. They merely indicated that it is controversial due to its association with the crusades. However, that lack of understanding outside of hate groups is the point of using these historical symbols as dog-whistles.