A group of Michigan men showed up at the venue of a theatrical performance of “The Diary of Anne Frank” displaying flags featuring Nazi and confederate symbols, and yelling antisemitic slurs in protest.

The men protested the play, which was taking place at the American Legion Post 141 in Livingston County, on Saturday, according to WXYZ.

“There was a group of people at the four-way intersection in downtown that had swastika flags and American flags,” Alex Sutfill, who called law enforcement after seeing the group while driving downtown with his wife, told the station. “They were sticking their arms up and yelling ‘hail Hitler’ and ‘hail Trump’ and everything like that.”

“They were shocked. They were appalled,” former commander of the post Bobby Brite told WXYZ, recalling how he and 75 other audience members who had come to see the play were afraid of encountering the mob on the way to their cars. “Everything you would expect.”

“Nobody in America should feel like that,” Brite went on.

The Fowlerville Community Theatre issued a statement about the play, acknowledging how the presence of the mob mirrored the harsh realities of World War II.

“As a theatre, we tell stories. We tell stories that take audiences to different times and places, some real, some fantastical. This production focuses on real people who died in the Holocaust, and we have tried to tell their stories as realistically as possible,” the theater wrote.

“On Saturday evening, things became more real than we expected; The presence of protestors outside gave us a small glimpse of the fear and uncertainty felt by those in hiding,” he said.

According to The Detroit News, the protestors eventually left the parking lot where they were protesting after law enforcement asked them to do so.

“The demonstrators then went across the street and waved flags adorned with Nazi insignia,” a sheriff’s office statement read. “A subject approached them, and an argument ensued. Nothing physical occurred, and the parties eventually separated.”

The play, which was performed again on Sunday evening, began “without further incident,” according to the sheriff’s office.

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