With all the political turmoil going on in the world right now, it’s becoming increasingly common to see nazi salutes performed by influential leaders within our society. Indeed, not only did Tesla CEO Elon Musk throw a Heil Hitler salute at Donald Trump’s inauguration recently, but priests and elected township officials are also seemingly joining in on the troubling trend. One custom knife store based in Edom, Texas, however, helped to buck this worrying trend when he turned away a customer who requested to have a nazi symbol emblazoned on one of her knives.
In the brief 43-second clip, we see an elderly couple enter the knife store, who are immediately greeted by an employee there who tells them that the store manager is, “on his way up.” The couple politely thank the man before the footage cuts to a few moments later. Next, the store manager — Jonathan Sibley — can be seen carefully inspecting the knives that the couple have brought with them. “What do we want to put in?” Sibley asks the customers. The woman responds pointing to one of her knives, “Okay, I need the emblem out of that to go into this guy right here.” It’s at this point that Sibley notices the nazi symbol.
Straightaway, Sibley places the knife back on the counter and pushes it towards the woman, stating, “No. No.” The couple seem a little shocked by the store manager’s decision. “Oh, really?” asks the woman acting in a surprisingly innocent manner. The knife shop owner makes it even clearer, explaining, “Yeah, no nazi bulls***.” Upon hearing the refusal, the couple stand there in an embarrassingly awkward manner for a few moments, not sure what to say, before uttering, “Okay, no problem.”
“If you wanted a modern German forestry seal or something in it, I will de-nazify sh**. But I won’t re-nazify sh**.” Sibley explains. To this, the woman grabs her handbag off the counter and heads for the exit, nervously repeating, “Okay, no problem.”
While the internet continues to dissect the footage, it’s safe to say that a huge swathe of commenters championed the knife shop owner’s decision to refuse the woman’s unsavory request. One Redditor wrote:
He was physically repulsed, the way he moved it away from himself so fast.
sumguysr
Another commenter chimed in with,
I like how quickly and resolutely he said, “No.” Not, “No. Sorry.” Just, “No.” With clarification after. Beautiful.
march_rogue
Meanwhile, a third netizen added, “What I find interesting is that they always look so surprised and shocked when someone questions their racism. You aren’t innocent.“
In essence, the incident highlights the tension many small business owners face between artistic freedom and personal ethics. While Sibley’s decision could potentially cost him a customer, it’s clear that the moral cost of supporting hate is far greater.
What makes this viral video even more interesting, however, is that the owner of the knife store — Jonathan Sibley — was actually a contestant on reality TV show Forged in Fire in Season 5, Episode 10. In it, four bladesmiths are pitted against one another in a bid to forge the best and strongest blade, with the overall winner winning $10,000. Amazingly, Sibley was placed second in the final round for his German halberd. Pretty impressive, no?
