Candidate addresses neo-Nazis

By · April 30, 2008

A congressional candidate in Indiana spoke to a neo-Nazi group celebrating Adolf Hitler’s birthday.

Tony Zirkle, who is seeking the Republican Party’s nomination in the 2nd District, said he spoke to the American National Socialist Workers Party in Chicago on April 20 because he was asked, the Northwest Indiana and Illinois Times reported.

Zirkle spoke in front of a painting of the Nazi leader, with a swastika flag hanging in the background, according to the newspaper.

“I’ll speak before any group that invites me,” he said.

Zirkle said he did not know much about the neo-Nazi organization.

A local Republican official on Tuesday denounced Zirkle’s appearance at the gathering.

“He certainly doesn’t hold the view of the Republican Party,” Chuck Williams, the GOP chairman in Porter County, told the Times.

In March, Zirkle raised the idea of segregating races in separate states, the Times reported.

A Democrat, Joe Donnelly, represents the 2nd District in the U.S. House of Representatives. The district is in the north-central part of Indiana and includes South Bend.