Why I Paint Giuliani as Hitler
(and keep getting arrested for it)
By Robert Lederman, President of A.R.T.I.S.T.
(Artists  Response To Illegal State Tactics)

I ve been arrested thirty-one times since Mayor Giuliani was first
inaugurated. Every arrest involved being engaged on the street in a
peaceful and totally legal First Amendment activity: selling my
paintings, making a speech, handing out literature, creating
political art or leading a non-violent artist protest. Under Mayor
Giuliani, New York City has been transformed from the free
speech capitol of the world into a repressive police state.

The latest arrest occurred in front of the Metropolitan Museum of
Art on 4/22/98 while I painted a large portrait of Giuliani as Hitler.
I have to keep making these painting because the Parks
Enforcement Police, under direct orders from the Mayor, keep
confiscating them and arresting me on  false charges.

This was my 11th arrest in front of the museum in the past 48
days. In addition to the arrests I ve received 24 Criminal Court
summonses during this same time. Every arrest or summons
represents a court case involving a judge, D.A s., court appointed
defense attorneys, court officers and clerical staff at great public
expense. I ve never been found guilty on any of these charges.

It s much easier for me to transform Giuliani into Hitler than it was
for his staff to transform him into a woman. A slight hairstyle
change and a little mustache is all that s needed. There s a striking
resemblance between the two men that goes far beyond physical
appearance. Aspiring artists, (Giuliani has a photo show opening
on 5/8 in SoHo), both ordered other artists arrested. Both obsessed
about silencing opponents, controlling media and restricting
speech. Both surrounded themselves with obedient flunkies
terrified of their boss  temper tantrums and willing to do anything
to keep from losing their jobs. Both exploited racism under the
guise of  quality of life ,  the work ethic  and  crime fighting  to
come to power. Both benefited from the enthusiastic support of
elite business interests and large corporations.

While I m on the street painting images of Giuliani many of my
fellow Jewish New Yorkers angrily tell me,  Giuliani is no
Hitler! . They re right of course. He isn t persecuting Jews. He has
no concentration camps set up yet, although Rikers Island comes
close. He s not gassing anyone. While his workfare and
community service sentencing policies resemble slave labor, no
one, even the homeless and the children he wants to kick off
welfare, is faced with choosing work or being executed. Giuliani s
privatization agenda is not exactly like Hitlers. Hitler seized the
private property of German Jews and redistributed it among his
corporate backers and supporters. Giuliani seizes public and
private property, turning it over it to campaign contributors like
the Times Square B.I.D. and the Central Park Conservancy, a
private corporation that controls, and believes it now owns,
Central Park.

For 12 years Hitler ran a totalitarian state where the police were
extremely loyal to him and ready to carry out his most insane
plans. Fortunately for all of us, Giuliani has broken the first law of
military leadership: never fail to pay your own troops. By saving
money on police salaries and benefits he s now despised by the
same army of police responsible for his crime fighting reputation.
As bad as the state of civil liberty is here now, one can only
imagine the humiliations New Yorkers would be subject to if
Giuliani retained the full loyalty and respect of the police.

Now that Giuliani is positioning himself for higher office it s
worth considering where such a man might ultimately lead us.
Hitler was elected President of a democracy with a cultured and
highly educated population. Like Giuliani, Hitler was a sports
enthusiast and stadium builder, although physically feeble. The
people rounded up and persecuted in Hitler s Germany were not
only Jews but artists, the homeless, political radicals and gays.
Like Giuliani, Hitler had art confiscated and destroyed as soon as
he came to power. Hitler was, like Giuliani, a master of
propaganda and staged photo opportunities. Both owe their
success to experts in the art of manipulating public opinion for
political effect.

In Hitler s Germany as in Giuliani s New York, the legal system
was used to give an illusion of rationality to the racism and
constitutional violations perpetrated on citizens each day. False
arrest, denial of due process, coerced confessions, arbitrary police
sweeps and the seizing of property are condoned by New Yorks
compromised judges, District Attorney s and the entire criminal
justice system. Germany had a constitution similar to the United
States  that was in some ways even more liberal. For the minority
prisoners I meet in holding cells, in the Tombs or while waiting in
court for our fake trials, Giuliani is Hitler and they are the Jews.
Reporters have told me that many N.Y.P.D. officers secretly call
Giuliani,  The Gestapo Chief . I guess they know better than
anyone where he s coming from.

When people discuss the artist permit system that I and my fellow
artists are protesting against outside the Metropolitan Museum,
they usually ask,  What s wrong with a $25 permit? . Besides the
fact that in 1996 we won a lawsuit that states artists don t need a
license or permit to sell their art on public property there s a more
important issue at stake here. The reason free speech and permits
don t go well together is called censorship.

Right now it takes daily arrests and a small army of 15-30 police
officers to censor my speech. If I apply, will Giuliani s loyal
Commissioner of Parks, Henry Stern, give me a permit to show
Giuliani as Hitler paintings? Will he give me a permit to expose
the corruption, criminality and constitutional violations behind the
Parks Department Administration and it s concession division?

People say that it s not as bad as Hitler here yet, that if Giuliani
were Hitler you d already have been executed. I agree. Perhaps if
more Germans had dared to criticize Hitler the way I m criticizing
Giuliani, we wouldn t even know who Hitler was today. Whether
or not you agree with my opinion of Giuliani you d have to agree
that what I m saying, and the paintings I m showing outside the
Met, are First Amendment protected political speech. Giuliani s
policy of arresting me and having my art confiscated each day is
only more proof that what I m saying about him is true.

For more information or a copy of the lawsuit against Mayor
Giuliani presently before the Federal court contact: Andrew
Miltenberg, Geoffrey Mason or Robert Fierman attorneys for the
plaintiffs [office (212) 481-4242] .
Robert Lederman (718) 369-2111 E-Mail:
[log in to unmask] To read the 2nd circuit decision granting
street artists full First Amendment rights and for other releases on
this issue go to: http://www.openair.org/alerts/artist/nyc.html
Mayor s Press Office 788-2958; Parks Comm. Henry Stern
360-1305; Thomas Rozinski, legal counsel Parks 360-1314;
William Leurs, Pres. Met Museum 570-3900; Museum Press
office 570-3951 Also see: NY Times 3/2/98 B1;  Village Voice
2/24/98 pg 57; NY Times editorial 3/4/98; Newsday 3/16/98 pg 4.
NY TIMES Metro pg 1 3/22/98  War of the Paintbrushes ; Time
Out 4/16-23/98 pg. 39  Brush With Danger ; N.Y. Times Metro
4/18/98  Judge Upholds Limit on Artists Selling Pictures Near
Museum ; For Giuliani s terrible record on free speech see
Newsday 4/20/98 cover story  Under Giuliani City Has
Repeatedly Stifled Dissent .