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 .