A member of the Deer Valley Unified School District board is under fire for giving a Nazi salute following a dispute with the board president during a public meeting.
“Heil, heil,” board member Kimberly Fisher said at the end of the Tuesday night meeting while raising her right arm into the Sieg Heil salute that can be traced back to 1920s Nazi Germany.
Fisher was arguing with board President Paul Carver, who she accused of acting like a dictator, over the date and time of an upcoming meeting.
She made the gesture and comments after Carver moved to adjourn the Tuesday meeting and end the discussion.
At the time, the other members of the Deer Valley school board did not address Fisher’s behavior.
But, on Thursday, state Rep. Stephanie Simacek (D-Phoenix), who also serves on the board, condemned the comments and called for the board to censure Fisher.
“What happened in that room was not a joke. It was not a political statement or an expression of frustration. It was a deliberate invocation of one of the most evil ideologies in human history on display in a building where our children come to learn,” Simacek said in a statement. “This is what antisemitism looks like when people get comfortable. This is what hatred looks like when it finds a seat at the table.”
The district’s teachers union went a step further, calling for Fisher to resign.
“Any leader who uses a Nazi salute during a School Board meeting is unfit for public services,” according to a statement from the Deer Valley Education Association. “There is no justification for this behavior.”
Fisher took to social media shortly after the meeting to explain her side of the story, saying she wanted to make sure the community had more input into meeting times.
“And so we need to ask our community what day works best for them,” Fisher said. “We need to find out from board members when they can come, and we need to do what’s right.”
In the video post, she did not apologize for using the Sieg Heil salute, instead choosing to double down on her criticism of Carver, who is running for the state legislature as a Republican.
“The Legislature does not need some little dictator with some Napoleon complex or whatever,” Fisher said. “What is it? Pol Pot, you know, was the most egregious dictator I’ve heard of. All I could think of tonight was Hitler, so I said ‘heil’ or whatever.”
In a statement, officials said the Deer Valley Unified School District “does not condone, support, or endorse gestures or language associated with hate, discrimination, intimidation, or violence in any form.”
“DVUSD remains committed to fostering a safe, respectful, and inclusive environment for all students, staff, families, and community members. We recognize the concern this incident has caused within our community and remain focused on ensuring that our schools remain places where every individual feels valued and respected,” according to the statement.
The statement said Fisher’s “views and actions” should not be attributed to other board members, staff or members of the district community.
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