Man Who Wore Hitler Costume For Halloween Gets Suspended From His Job

A man who wore an Adolf Hitler costume on State Street for Halloween was suspended from his job at the Madison Children’s Museum on Tuesday, Nov. 1.

The man, who worked at the Madison Children’s Museum for the past 10 years, wore an Adolf Hitler costume and walked up and down State Street to celebrate Halloween at the University of Wisconsin–Madison on Saturday, Oct. 29. On Monday, Oct. 31, the museum stated that the man's costume was completely unacceptable and runs counter to everything the museum believes and suspended him from the job, Madison.com reported.

"We stand against antisemitism and all forms of bigotry and discrimination," the museum said in a statement.

"The organization has determined that his continued employment would create an environment at odds with our values and unwelcoming to visitors and staff," the statement continued.

The museum's statement added that they still hope to engage the man in a restorative justice process "that would redress the harm done to the community while allowing him to understand the effects of his actions and accept accountability."

Following the incident, the Madison Police Department (MPD) discovered that the man was not a student at UW Madison and that he had a cognitive impairment due to a past traumatic brain injury, WKOW 27 News reported.

MPD stated that the Hitler costume was "offensive and reprehensible." However, they stated that it is not a criminal act to press charges against the man.

"While the fear and disgust expressed was entirely valid, no reports received by MPD rise to the level of a prosecutable crime," the statement by MPD read. "This individual engaged in protected freedoms of speech and expression, and despite the troubling nature of the expression, this alone is not a crime."

"We are nauseated to see a man has dressed up as Adolf Hitler to celebrate Halloween at the U. Wisconsin Madison," StopAntisemitism tweeted after photographs of the man in the Halloween costume went viral online.

UW Hillel, a community center for more than 4,000 Jewish students at UW-Madison, also put out a statement in connection with the offensive act.

"The glorification of hate, fascism, and antisemitism is disgusting and an assault on the memories of all those who died in World War II and in the Holocaust; our community cannot stand for this behavior," the statement said.