A Deer Valley Unified School District board member is facing mounting calls for accountability after appearing to perform a Nazi salute during a public meeting Tuesday night.
The gesture came at the end of a tense exchange among board members over the scheduling of a public work session. Board member Kimberly Fisher had been vocal in her opposition to a proposed 4:30 p.m. start time, arguing it would prevent meaningful community participation.
"The whole point of us having a work study with our community is that we can get their input and they can hear the discussion," Fisher said during the debate.
Board President Paul Carver Jr. pushed back, and as the argument escalated, Fisher appeared to raise her arm in a Nazi salute while saying "Heil."
House Democrats Statement
This received the attention of Representative Stephanie Simacek (D-AZ), who also serves on the Deer Valley board and was seated next to Fisher when it happened, and issued a statement Thursday.
"What happened in that room was not a joke. It was not a political statement or an expression of frustration," Simacek said. "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, a former public school teacher, characterized the incident as a reflection of how antisemitism can take hold when left unchallenged.
"This is what hatred looks like when it finds a seat at the table," she said, calling on officials across party lines to respond. "I am calling for an immediate censure. I am calling for accountability. And I am calling on every parent, educator, and elected official Republican or Democrat - to stand up and say clearly: THIS HAS NO PLACE HERE."
The Deer Valley Education Association also called the gesture "horrifying and disgusting" and demanded Fisher's resignation.
