How the RICO Act Allowed Rampant Antisemitism in America
How the RICO Act Allowed Rampant Antisemitism in America By Robert Korczynski The Judge, the Fixer, and the Volunteers In the late 1930s, the German American Bund held massive, high-profile rallies, most famously at Madison Square Garden in New York City. They followed every law. They had permits. They held their assemblies and exercised their rights to free speech. These were Americans who were antisemitic and sympathetic to Germany, but they had every right to assemble and hold offensive opinions. They were not breaking any laws. The turning point occurred on February 20, 1939, at their massive rally at Madison Square Garden. A man named Isadore Greenbaum, an anti-Nazi, rushed the stage to protest. He was brutally beaten by the Bund’s security while thousands cheered, ending up bloodied and broken. That image became a foundational moment of outrage. Nathan Perlman, a judge in New York, saw the reality of the situation. He realized the system could not stop them because American F...