Anti-Semitic German preacher
Ahlwardt came to
New York in 1895 to advocate a crusade against
Jews. The city's Jewish leaders went to the police commissioner,
Teddy Roosevelt, and demanded that Ahlwardt not be allowed to speak. But Roosevelt insisted that the
German was entitled to freedom of speech regardless of his views and even required police protection. So Roosevelt personally appointed the man's security guards: 40
policemen, all of them Jewish. After the speech, the cops went home and Ahlwardt was caught by
thugs and beaten.