The Capitol police was called after a swastika flag was seen on a congressional staffer’s wall during a virtual call.
The altered American flag with red and white lines in the shape of a swastika was photographed on what appears to be a cubical wall alongside other mementos, including a pocket Constitution, per Politico, which obtained a photo of the flag.
The photo was taken during a virtual meeting that Angelo Elia, a legislative correspondent for Representative Dave Taylor, was on, according to Politico.
It’s unclear whether the cubicle belonged to Elia or what role the staffer had in the incident. Elia has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
A spokesperson for the Ohio Republican told Politico the flag was found inside Taylor’s Washington, D.C. office on Tuesday afternoon.
On Wednesday, when Politico published its reporting, Taylor issued a statement about the “vandalism” in his D.C. office.
“I am aware of an image that appears to depict a vile and deeply inappropriate symbol near an employee in my office. The content of that image does not reflect the values or standards of this office, my staff, or myself, and I condemn it in the strongest terms,” he said.
The congressman said he “immediately” ordered an investigation into the matter alongside the Capitol police.
“No further comment will be provided until it has been completed,” he said.
The Independent has reached out to the Capitol police for comment and attempted to contact Taylor and Elia.
Taylor is a first-term congressman representing Ohio’s second district, east of Cincinnati. He sits on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the House Agriculture Committee.
The swastika symbol was around for at least 5,000 years before Adolf Hitler made it the symbol of his Nazi Party. The swastika is now banned in Germany and other European countries, but it is legal to display the Nazi symbol in the U.S. due to free speech protections.
According to the Swastika Counter Project, incidents involving the Nazi symbol occurred in all 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C., between 2016 and 2021.
In June 2024, neo-Nazis in South Dakota waved a swastika flag outside the state capitol building. Then-South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, who later became President Donald Trump’s Homeland Security Secretary, condemned the extremist rally at the time.
