Shoppers in the Barnes and Noble on Broadway and 82rd in NYC found themselves shocked on December 1st when self-proclaimed liberal Democrats disrupted an event at the store. The event was a scheduled Q&A session/book signing to introduce "Winter is Coming: Why Vladimir Putin and the Enemies of the Free World Must be Stopped", a new book by Garry Kasparov and Mig Greengard. Kasparov is an internationally known chess player and political activist, who is also known for opposing Russian President Vladimir Putin.
That seemed to be part of the motivation for the group of troublemakers, who got started with one man asking a question to Kasparov in front of the group. According to a witness, at around 7:45 EST the man (who has not been identified) stated that he is a Liberal Democrat and that, while he wouldn't normally be there, he was attracted by the fact that Kasparov was supposedly promoting war with Russia. He then stuck a Hitler-style mustache onto his face (pictured below) and proceeded to throw Nazi salutes as a few others joined him. They screamed "You're my fuhrer!" and commented about war with Russia.
The intention was clearly to make Kasparov look like he was involved with the group. One of the men in the group had been filming from the start of the "performance."
A cop who was in the store for security purposes escorted two of the provocateurs out, during which one of the men with a Hitler mustache lost his upper lip decoration, while a few others stayed to argue with the audience and scream more about fascism until they left on their own.
When asked about Kasparov's reaction, one witness, Alexander Kogan, said, "Kasparov just sat there, half-smiled and looked at the circus." It is a true shame to have such crazies interrupt what was supposed to be an informing and peaceful event, especially since they had the audacity to pull this stunt. If there hadn't been the cop to help escort them away the situation could have escalated greatly. While they are not believed to be actually Nazis, it seems as if they were putting on this performance to imply that Kasparov is a Nazi who wants war with Russia.
