Far-right Polish lawmaker Grzegorz Braun was captured on video Tuesday using a fire extinguisher to put out menorah candles in Parliament and calling Hanukkah a “satanic” celebration.
In the footage shared by Polish broadcaster TVN24, Braun is seen grabbing a fire extinguisher in the halls of Parliament and using it to put out candles on a menorah, the candelabrum used through the eight nights of the Jewish holiday.
“Those who take part in acts of satanic worship should be ashamed,” he said after the act, according to a translation by Reuters. He also said he was restoring “normality” by dousing the candles.
Braun, one of the most conservative and controversial members of Parliament, grabbed the fire extinguisher shortly after a rabbi led a Hanukkah celebration in the building.
“He was doing it in a very brutal way,” Rabbi Shalom Ber Stambler told The Associated Press. The footage shows Braun filling the room with white mist and powder from the extinguisher as people begged him to stop.
Magdalena Gudzinska-Adamczyk, a woman identified by Reuters, was among the attendees who tried to stop Braun.
“I feel very short of breath and have trouble speaking,” she told TVN24 as her face was covered in residue from the fire extinguisher. “I have stopped feeling safe in this country.”
Parliamentary leadership quickly sanctioned Braun, a member of the far-right Confederation party who claims there’s a conspiracy to turn Poland into a “Jewish state.” His salary was cut in half for three months and his parliamentary expenses halved for six months.
Szymon Holownia, the speaker of the Parliament, banned Braun from the rest of the day’s session and said he was reporting him to prosecutors, the AP reported.
Braun’s actions came a day after pro-European Union lawmaker Donald Tusk was appointed prime minister of Poland, defeating a right-wing rival. On Monday, Tusk emphasized his plans to support Ukraine in its war with Russia, which Braun supported.
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