A hush-hush lecture by a Holocaust-denying historian brought unwanted limelight to this town's elegant Ritz-Carlton
hotel when two of the attendees -- including a local white supremacist -- got into a knife fight in the hallway.
The brawlers broke furniture and stained the
hotel carpet with blood Monday night after stepping outside British author David Irving's speech at the
hotel on "decoding the Nazi message."
The men, identified as Christopher Nachtman, 31, of Lake Worth, and John Kopko, 43, of West Palm Beach, were among an estimated 35 invited guests at the clandestine event, the location of which was kept secret to confound would-be protesters.
Irving's lectures are lightning rods for controversy, with protesters around the country endlessly seeking to demonstrate outside them.
But executives at the beachfront Ritz-Carlton, who said they don't screen guests, said they had no idea he was coming.
The
hotel conference room was booked under the name Focal Point Publications, Irving's book publisher in Great Britain, and the
hotel's general manager said he had no idea who Irving was.
"We had no knowledge that this gentleman was speaking and we don't condone the conduct that occurred," said Bradley Cance.
Police said Irving was not involved in the incident, which sent both men to the hospital with injuries, but he was apologetic in a later interview.
"I'm deeply ashamed that this happened," said Irving, who once was imprisoned in Austria for spreading his rhetoric there. "I want to apologize to the people of Palm Beach County and the Ritz-Carlton management."
He added: "But this had nothing to do with me or my lectures."
The two men had tangled at least once before they saw each other at the lecture, reportedly having exchanged words at a barbecue a year ago, Manalapan Police Chief Clay Walker said.
Monday night, they stepped outside the lecture to argue, and as their argument turned violent police say one of them pulled a knife.
The knife-holder stabbed the other one and, in the struggle, cut himself as well, Walker said.
Kopko was flown by helicopter to Delray Medical Center and later released. Nachtman was taken by ambulance to JFK Medical Center in Atlantis.
Neither man was arrested Tuesday and it may be several more days before any charges are filed, Walker said. Police were still trying to determine the aggressor.
Kopko, whose criminal record includes a firearm arrest and another for aggravated assault, is a known white supremacist who once tried to force the county's library to buy Nazi magazines and literature. During his effort in 1992, Kopko was known to perform the Nazi salute before Jewish library patrons.
Monday's hubbub was an unusual splash of controversy for low-key, wealthy Manalapan, where the town population hovers slightly above 300 and controversy is more likely to run along the lines of the debate a few years back over boxing promoter and resident Don King's 8-foot lighted replica of the Statue of Liberty.
"It's very strange for this community," Walker said of Monday's incident.
Not that people seemed shaken by it. Across the street from the Ritz-Carlton, Joan Knott scooped ice cream at The Ice Cream Club for hours Tuesday before a customer mentioned rumors about the knife fight.
"I've been here nine years," Knott said, "and there's never been any trouble."
Town Commissioner Tom Thornton Jr. pointed out that the incident did not involve anyone from Manalapan.
"Obviously it was a very unusual event," Thornton said. "I don't know why they picked the Ritz. It could have happened anywhere."
Staff writer Charles Passy and staff researcher Niels Heimeriks contributed to this story.
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andrew_marra@pbpost.com
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