GRANTS, N.M. (AP) - The Anti-Defamation League is denouncing comments made by a New Mexico mayor who compared New Mexico State Police to the Gestapo and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to the Nazis.
The Anti-Defamation League Mountain States Region said Friday it condemns comments made by Grants, New Mexico, Mayor Martin “Modey” Hicks to The Associated Press.
In an interview Thursday, Hicks, a Democrat, compared the Democratic governor to the Nazis over her closures of nonessential business to stop the spread of COVID-19.
“I’ve told businesses to call 911 if State Police show up to their place. We are going to stop Lujan Grisham and her Gestapo,” Hicks told The AP, referring to the secret police of Nazi Germany.
He also said Lujan Grisham was acting like Hitler.
Hicks made the comments after he announced he was reopening small businesses in the city of about 9,000 people in defiance of the governor’s order that shuttered nonessential businesses.
“We condemn Mayor Hicks provocative and combative rhetoric that referred to New Mexico State Police as Governor Lujan Grisham’s ‘Gestapo.’” ADL Mountain States Regional Director Scott Levin said. “The mayor’s frustration is no excuse for comparing public health orders with the actions of the Nazis. “
Hicks didn’t immediately return a phone message.
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