Nazi Christmas ornaments, Confederate flags and a Ku Klux Klan robe were on display or for sale this past weekend at the Kentucky Expo C...
Nazi Christmas ornaments, Confederate flags and a Ku Klux Klan robe were on display or for sale this past weekend at the Kentucky Expo Center during a gun show, just days after the shooting deaths of two people at a Jeffersontown Kroger grocery store that investigators say could be a hate crime.
The items were sold by vendors at the National Gun Day annual show Saturday and Sunday, which included more than 1,600 tables featuring guns, collectibles and memorabilia from various exhibitors, according to the show flyer.
Cody Patterson, a spokesman for Kentucky Venues, which includes the Expo Center, said the organization leases space to a show manager, who then subcontracts the leased space to exhibitors.
The Kentucky Expo Center is owned by the state and is managed by a fair board appointed by Gov. Matt Bevin.
He said the memorabilia — which included a white tank top with two red horizontal stripes and a patch on the chest featuring a black swastika; an authentic KKK robe used by the notorious white supremacy group; and even holiday ornaments adorned with glittery swastikas — was unacceptable.
"Kentucky Venues finds any items representing racist ideology to be despicable," Patterson said.
Walter Kanzler, of Key Largo, Florida, told the Courier Journal on Tuesday that he was the man who sold the Nazi Christmas ornaments. Kanzler sells the ornaments on his website, kanzlermilitaria.com, for anywhere from $50 to $750.
He said he doesn't see why people are offended, and that the new policy would be harmful to world history.
“I don’t want to suppress history,” Kanzler said Tuesday. “They are original, I have no interest in political statements. I’m not into hate or anything like that. These things are a part of history.”
Kanzler didn't answer other questions and said his attorney could be contacted before hanging up the phone.
Patterson told the Courier Journal the only events Kentucky Venues can screen merchandise for are the Kentucky State Fair, the National Farm Machinery Show and the North American International Livestock Exposition. Other events are managed by the show managers who lease the space.
Patterson said there isn't a policy for screening the show manager's exhibits, but there is a policy banning the sale of the Confederate flag from all events. It is unclear if the flag on display at the gun show was for sale.
“We don’t have anything that bans items from an out-of-house contract,” Patterson said. “Management at the board has not had an issue so far, so we don’t have a policy.”
Patterson told the Courier Journal he anticipates that management and the fair board will discuss clarifying the policy.
Ron Dickson, the owner of the National Gun Day promotions company, did not respond Monday to a phone call or email.
The display of the Nazi and Klan memorabilia occurred three days after authorities say Gregory Bush shot and killed two African-Americans at a Jeffersontown Kroger.
Shortly before the shooting, Bush tried to break into First Baptist Church in Jeffersontown, a congregation made up predominantly of African-Americans. He also told a witness at the scene of the Kroger shootings that "whites don't kill whites."
Court records show that Bush has a history of mental health problems and violence and at least one instance when he allegedly used a racial slur.
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