White nationalists hang banner opposing sanctuary city on Bay Bridge tunnel

A sign mocking San Francisco’s sanctuary city policy was hung early Sunday over the Yerba Buena Island Tunnel in San Francisco. A sign mocking San Francisco’s sanctuary city policy was hung early Sunday over the Yerba Buena Island Tunnel in San Francisco. Image 1 of / 19 Caption Close White nationalists hang banner opposing sanctuary city on Bay Bridge tunnel 1 / 19 Back to Gallery

A sign mocking San Francisco’s sanctuary city policy was hung early Sunday over the Yerba Buena Tunnel in San Francisco by a white nationalist organization.

The sign read “Danger” in red letters and “Sanctuary City Ahead” with a skull and crossbones on both sides of the poster. It was visible to Bay Bridge motorists driving west on Interstate 80 but was quickly removed, said Officer Vu Williams of the California Highway Patrol.

“It’s my understanding it was only up there very briefly,” Williams said.

It’s unclear who removed the sign, Williams added.

Identity Evropa claimed responsibility for the sign on Twitter and said, “PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT FROM IDENTITY EVROPA San Francisco is a dangerous sanctuary city where the law does not apply to illegal invaders. Enter at your own risk!”

Identity Evropa is a white supremacist organization and designated as a hate group, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

According to Identity Evropa’s website, the group is made up of “a generation of awakened Europeans who have discovered that we are part of the great peoples, history, and civilization that flowed from the European continent. We reject the idea that our identities are mere abstractions to be deconstructed.”

The organization attempts to recruit college-age, white students to discuss white interests, according to the law center.

It was founded in March 2016 by Nathan Damigo, a 31-year-old Marine and student at Cal State Stanislaus.

Damigo gained notoriety in April when he punched a woman at a pro-Trump rally in Berkeley.

In an August interview with The Chronicle, Damigo said there is a growing antiwhite culture in the United States that is destructive and harmful to society.

“Diversity is divisive,” he said. “The idea that we are going to unite around some abstract principle — democracy, freedom or love — that simply is not going to work.”

Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani