Activists demanded House Minority Leader Vikki Breese-Iverson's (R-Prineville) resignation on Friday, June 2, after a photograph of her teenage son and another person doing Nazi salutes in front of a replica German aircraft with a swastika spread on social media. The Central Oregon Diversity Project also demanded the high school student be removed from school and that higher institutions he may have applied to be made aware of the act.
The salute occurred during a school field trip to the Erickson Aircraft collection in Madras, which houses a number of historical planes. Breese-Iverson posted an apology on Facebook the next day, for what she said was her son's "extremely poor judgement." She said she and her husband have spoken to the Crook County school district about disciplining her son. In the post she also included a handwritten apology that she said was written by her son.
"It was a dumb mistake. I really get that now. Doing something bad in the moment without thinking can cause harm. I apologized to anyone that was offended and have accepted the punishment handed down to me by the school and my parents," the letter said.
Freshman State Representative Emerson Levy (D-Bend) responded to the incident online, saying she doesn't believe Breese-Iverson personally holds or supports antisemitic beliefs, but called for greater education about the Holocaust. Levy said the photo is inexcusable and offensive, and clarified she's speaking on behalf of herself and her Jewish family and not the Jewish community at large.
"Our children must learn history, the bad and the good, to ensure the darker moments aren't repeated," Levy wrote. "In an era where books are once again banned, there are some that prefer to ignore to rewrite history for their own narrative and to ease their own mind."
