Last month, Kimberly Fisher, a Deer Valley school board member, made headlines for making a Nazi salute and repeating “Heil” twice prior to the conclusion of Deer Valley Unified School District’s (DVUSD) May 26 meeting.
Fisher’s gesture, reminiscent of fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, led to outrage with local teacher unions, including the Arizona Education Association and the Deer Valley Education Association calling for her immediate resignation.
Their efforts didn’t stop there. On June 9, dozens of residents braved the Arizona heat to call for Fisher’s removal from the board roughly an hour before the study session was set to begin outside the DVUSD district building.
Connie Campbell Henry, a local resident, held a sign calling Fisher a “poor example” for the district.
“I am appalled at the behavior of Kim Fisher on the board, and I totally think that it’s inappropriate and unacceptable for her to behave that way,” Henry said. “She’s setting a bad example for our children, and she shouldn’t be on the school board. She needs to resign.”
In a Facebook video posted after the incident, Fisher said she did the salute to indicate that governing board President Paul Carver Jr. — a fellow conservative on the board — was acting like a dictator after he shut down her request to change the meeting time.
“All I could think of tonight was Hitler so I said ‘heil Hitler,’” Fisher said in the video. “This nonsense that a board can’t talk to even schedule a meeting, which is what he said, that is stupid, and it is absolutely not accurate.”
Henry said it doesn’t excuse the gesture. “That’s an excuse for bad behavior, that’s not acceptable behavior,” she said. “That is not a reason to do what she did.”
Kristin Grasso, an eighth-grade language arts teacher in the district, came out to protest because she believes it is important her students see strong leadership examples.
“It sends the message that it’s okay to make jokes at other people’s expense, and that if you have an excuse behind it, that it’s okay,” Grasso said. “Our students need to know that that’s not okay. Our community needs to know that it’s not okay.”
A tense meeting
The school board meeting inside was just as tense. More than a dozen community members called on Fisher to resign for her actions.
Carrie Lenny Albuquerque, a former student in the district, said during the public comment period that Fisher should be “ashamed” of herself.
“You have caused great harm to our communities through your reckless behavior and have failed in your career in public service,” Albuquerque said. “You do not deserve to call yourself a school board member. That sort of hate you have culminated in, Kimberly, has no place anywhere. The community calls on you to resign immediately.”
When it came time for Fisher to speak, she accused the audience members of doxxing her and hating her for her “faith in Jesus Christ.” Fisher said her action was misconstrued to paint a narrative of her as antisemitic by audience members, when she meant for it the gesture to accuse Carver of acting dictatorial.
“My action was nothing more than calling out the dictatorship that we have been dealing with for three and a half years,” Fisher said to the audience. “I was pointing out exactly what was happening and everybody knows it. It was not against any population. But why not gain a little bit of political points at the expense of me or my family or even the Jewish community that you’re using for this?”
The crowd erupted in laughter at Fisher’s remarks, prompting Carver to call for order.
Fisher defended what critics called a conditional apology to the Jewish community in her online statement – not for her action, she said, but if they “felt hurt” by it.
In a statement posted May 31 on Facebook, Fisher apologized to the Jewish community and said she did not support the Nazi Party. Fisher also accused the teachers union of doxxing her, blamed them for the rise of death threats she’s received, and stated she is sending all calls and messages to the FBI.
“I apologized to them in my online statement, not because there was any intent or what the accusation has been made, but because I’m sorry if they felt hurt. I’m sorry also that the union and Democrat[ic] party is trying to exploit them in this.”
Audience members chanted against Fisher, shouting “shame” while Fisher packed her belongings and left the meeting.
Stephanie Simacek, a fellow school board member, apologized to the audience for not “standing up” to Fisher at the May 26 meeting.
“What happened the other night was unfortunately behavior that we have seen before, and it wasn’t surprising unfortunately, but it definitely was a time where I could have stood up and said “no,” And I didn’t do that,” Simacek said. “Our schools are only as safe as the people that we choose to lead them.”
Fisher did not immediately respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.
