Obama poster angers Holocaust survivor

EDMONDS, Wash., Sept. 17 (UPI) -- A Holocaust survivor facing assault charges in Edmonds, Wash., says he clashed with two people over a poster that portrayed Barack Obama as Adolf Hitler.

The Seattle Times said Thursday that Henry Gasparian, 70, admits seeing a poster featuring the U.S. president with a Hitler mustache ignited an emotional response in him due to his personal experiences during the Holocaust.

Gasparian describes his Sept. 5 clash with two supporters of perennial presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche as an attempt by "an old man to say you cannot insult the president with this outrageous campaign."

Gasparian faces fourth-degree assault charges for allegedly pushing and grabbing the two LaRouche supporters at the Edmonds Farmers Market after seeing the poster they displayed.

He said the poster criticizing Obama's healthcare proposals was simply too much to tolerate.

"I saw Hitler's soldiers. I saw swastikas every day. To call Obama stupid, even criminal -- OK, that's politics. But Hitler? It's hurting to anyone no matter who is president," he told the Times.