Oregon House Republican Leader Vikki Breese-Iverson issued an apology Saturday, days after her son posed giving a Nazi salute in front of a World War II German fighter plane.
Breese-Iverson, R-Prineville, said in a post on Facebook that her teenage son exhibited “extremely poor judgement” when he and a friend posed for the photo last week while on a high school field trip at the Erickson Aircraft Collection in Madras. That photo was subsequently posted to social media.
“Out of extremely poor judgement and without considering the impact this photo would have, he posed in front of the aircraft,” she wrote. “My husband and I have been in contact with the school administration about enforcing adequate consequences for his actions, both at school and at home. In no way do my husband or I condone these actions, and we apologize to anyone impacted by this image.”
Breese-Iverson’s post included a photo of her son’s handwritten apology, in which he said posing for a photo that a friend took and posted online “was a dumb mistake. I really get that now. Doing something bad in the moment without thinking can cause harm.”
The Central Oregon Diversity Project said in a Saturday Facebook post that it was demanding Breese-Iverson’s immediate resignation over the photo, KTVZ-TV reported. The group is dedicated to providing solidarity and opportunity to Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian and all people of color in central Oregon.
Six million Jews were murdered by the Nazis and their henchmen during the Holocaust in the 1940s.
The number of antisemitic incidents in the U.S. increased by more than 35% from 2,721 in 2021 to 3,697 in 2022, according to an April report from the Anti-Defamation League.
— The Associated Press and Jamie Goldberg, jgoldberg@oregonian.com