Minneapolis Bookstore Owner Sparks Outrage By Comparing ICE To Nazi Death Camps On CNN

A  bookstore owner from Minneapolis who has joined an “economic blackout” to protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement likened ICE to Nazi death camps, saying, “I’m not saying they’re putting people in ovens — yet.”

On CNN’s “The Lead,” host Jake Tapper noted, “Hundreds of businesses statewide have closed in solidarity, joining in a so-called economic blackout. One of those businesses participating is an independent bookstore in Minneapolis called Moon Palace Books and the co-owner, Jamie Schwesnedl, joins me now. Jamie, why was it important for you and your wife to close your bookstore today?”

“Well, Jake, we can’t do business as usual right now anyway because our city has been invaded by masked gunmen kidnapping family members and friends and neighbors of ours to send them to concentration camps,” Schwesnedl replied. “Additionally, there’s a lot of businesses in our area that have staff or customers or owners who are afraid to come to work, afraid to come in and shop. People are closing down today and we felt like it wouldn’t be kind or fair for us to stay open. So we’re closing in solidarity to help send a message.”

“I’m not here to defend ICE, but I’m not a big fan of people using the term concentration camp to describe detention camps,” Tapper protested. “That has a very specific meaning in terms of people that —”

“I understand that,” Schwesnedl responded. “But they take people to Fort Snelling here, which literally was built as a concentration camp. And Alligator Alcatraz, which I think we can all agree is a concentration camp. Not saying they’re Dachau, I’m not saying they’re putting people in ovens yet, but these are concentration camps.”

CNN guest implies ICE will soon start to “put people in ovens” pic.twitter.com/Nieyp5FrRO

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) January 26, 2026

Schwesnedl’s outrageous comparison of ICE to Nazis mocks the horrific mass murder of six million Jews and millions of others committed by the German Reich during World War II and their deadly efficiency at doing so.

The elite of society joined in the Nazis’ mass murder, whether engineers, scientists, lawyers, bankers, or doctors. In just one example, in October 1941, SS architect Walter Dejaco drafted Auschwitz’s first industrial crematorium, applying professional precision to mass murder. His designs solved the Nazis’ central logistical problem: not how to kill Jews, but how to dispose of bodies at scale. The crematoria and gas chambers he helped design could incinerate thousands daily, mostly Jews. Historians argue Dejaco was “more effective at killing” than guards, because his architectural efficiency made genocide feasible.