Far-right Polish lawmaker Grzegorz Braun uses fire extinguisher on Hanukkah candles in parliament
- He then took to the podium in the chamber and described the Jewish festival as ‘satanic’, saying he was restoring ‘normality’
- Braun was excluded from the sitting of parliament, and will lose half of his salary for three months and all parliamentary expenses for six months
A far-right Polish lawmaker used a fire extinguisher to put out Hanukkah candles in the country’s parliament on Tuesday during an event with members of the Jewish community, provoking outrage and leading the speaker to exclude him from the sitting.
Footage posted on the website of private broadcaster TVN24 showed Grzegorz Braun of the Confederation party take the extinguisher before walking across the lobby of the parliament to where the candles were, creating a white cloud and forcing security guards to rush people out of the area.
Members of the Jewish community, including children, had gone to parliament at speaker Szymon Holownia’s invitation for its annual Hanukkah celebrations.
The footage showed people in the vicinity covered in powder from the extinguisher.
Afterwards Braun took to the podium in the chamber where he described Hanukkah as “satanic” and said he was restoring “normality”.
