Mayor apologizes for backing mask critics’ Holocaust imagery

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The mayor of Alaska’s largest city has apologized for his comments supporting some residents’ use of Holocaust imagery to liken a proposed citywide mask mandate to the oppression of Jewish people in Nazi Germany. Hearings on the Anchorage proposal are happening this week. Opponents of the mandate have been wearing yellow Star of David stickers, like the patches that Holocaust victims wore, to the public meetings. Mayor Dave Bronson said the stars in Jewish culture mean “never again” and initially called their use by mask opponents a credit to Holocaust victims. He apologized Thursday, saying comparisons shouldn’t be made between a mask mandate and what happened in the Holocaust.