When Big Easy Magazine broke the story about a performer wearing a swastika shirt at Ohm Lounge, we expected backlash. What we didn’t expect was how many people rushed not to condemn the symbol, but to defend it—not to stand against hate, but to invoke “free speech” as if that somehow settled the matter.
To be clear, no one’s saying you’ll be arrested for wearing a swastika. But don’t mistake legality for immunity. If you walk into a public space wearing the emblem of a genocidal regime, you should expect outrage. And if you’re a business owner or media outlet looking the other way, you’re part of the problem.
Even more absurd is the idea that defending this symbol is somehow defending liberty. The Nazis weren’t champions of free speech—they were its executioners. They burned books, silenced dissent, and ruled by terror and propaganda. That swastika was about erasing freedom, not protecting it. Defending it in the name of the First Amendment is either historical ignorance or willful blindness.
Yes, the swastika had origins as a symbol of peace, but that meaning died in the ashes of Auschwitz. The Nazis turned it into a brand of hatred, plastered on camps, uniforms, and flags as they systematically murdered 11 million people, including over 6 million Jews. Today, it’s not a misunderstood sign. It’s a trauma trigger and a warning.
And we’re expected to act like it’s just another shirt?
This wasn’t an isolated moment. Just days before the Ohm Lounge incident, another group appeared in the French Quarter—one man wearing a swastika, another throwing a Nazi salute. That drew outrage, coverage, and consequences. The man in question lost his job. People stood up, and the community responded.
Then came the performance at Ohm. A man wore a swastika on stage. People in the room reportedly asked for him to be removed, but he wasn’t. The show continued. And the next morning, most outlets printed a tame statement from Ohm Lounge saying they “regretted” the incident.
Regret? That’s it?
There’s no mention of who let him perform, and there’s no accountability for the decision to allow it to continue. And now, we have strong evidence that the club’s owner, Billy Blatt, was present. He posted a photo that night with Waka Flocka Flame at the same venue. Yet the official statement claimed management was only “made aware” of the incident after the fact.
So who’s lying?
More to the point—why isn’t anyone asking? Why is the rest of the media parroting press releases instead of pressing for the truth? Why did no one challenge the inconsistency, or ask the most obvious question: If the owner was there, why did he let it happen?
Meanwhile, where are our leaders? Where’s the mayor? The city council? The candidates asking for our votes? Their silence gives permission for this kind of hate to spread.
This isn’t about one venue or one night. What line, are we, as a city, willing to draw? Two swastika sightings in one week—one in the Quarter, one on a stage—and barely a ripple of real outrage from those in power. We must not allow this to signal that we’re willing to let the rot take hold.
When we normalize this, we don’t just offend history. We open the door to something far more dangerous. Every time hate goes unchecked, it gets bolder. We risk emboldening neo-Nazis, giving them not just visibility but momentum. And once they gain a foothold in our culture—or our politics—they don’t just threaten vulnerable communities. They threaten everyone’s rights, including free speech. Because that’s the irony: the more space we give to fascist ideologies, the more likely it is that the very freedoms people claim to be defending will be the first to disappear.
And let’s not forget—this isn’t just political. This is personal. The people so many are now defending? Our grandparents fought them. They crossed oceans, stormed beaches, and died in foreign fields to stop this ideology from ever taking root again. Seeing swastikas paraded around our streets, met with shrugs or excuses, is a disgrace to their sacrifice and memory.
Symbols have always mattered and still do. And this one doesn’t belong in polite society, let alone on stage in the heart of New Orleans. It’s not edgy, misunderstood, or harmless. It’s a threat.
So yes, we’re still talking about it, and we’ll keep talking about it. Because when hate walks through the front door and no one throws it out, that’s how it finds a home.
Not here. Not without a fight.
