Graffiti containing swastikas and a racial slur were found on what appeared to be the outside of a public bathroom at Blue Rock Springs Park in Vallejo, Calif.
The graffiti, which was drawn in light-blue spray-paint, stated, “White power” with a swastika between the two words. The words “n—–s watch out I’m coming to kill you” were also scrawled on the building.
Found today in Vallejo, California, at Blue Rock Springs Park…
"White Power", swastika, n-word with death threat pic.twitter.com/KXSrWMEEI1
— Sia Kordestani (@SiaKordestani) June 24, 2020
Gabriel Lanusse, general manager of the Greater Vallejo Recreation District (GVRD), confirmed that the graffiti did in fact occur in Blue Rock Springs Park.
“GVRD considers this graffiti to be more than just a painted public building with words, and considers this elevated to hate crime status when staff encountered it this morning,” Lanusse said. “We immediately called the police so that they could take a report and document this terrible act. When given the OK by police, staff painted over the hate crime.”
Anti-Defamation League Regional Director Seth Brysk said in a statement to the Journal, “Clearly, white supremacists view our national reckoning with racism as an opportunity for exploitation. It is reprehensible. The vile graffiti confirms the persistence of extremism, threatening our neighbors, community and values. The vandalism is a cowardly attempt to intimidate, which will not succeed because we know black lives matter and love is stronger than hate.”
American Jewish Committee (AJC) San Francisco Associate Director Eran Hazary similarly said in a statement to the Journal, “We have witnessed again, in our own community, hate manifested. This is not just graffiti, it is a death threat. A threat against those of us who fight against racial bigotry, racial injustice, and white nationalist extremism. This is a hate crime pure and simple. These are the words of a coward who has no place in our society.”
He added: “It is also a reminder of how strong we are when we come together. This death threat is a response to that strength. AJC will continue to stand with our African American partners and people of good will so that these threats are as insignificant as the deadbeat who delivered them.
Progressive Zionists of California co-founder Matthew Finkelstein, who resides in Vallejo, also said in a statement to the Journal, “To all of those Jews who remain skeptical about Jewish involvement in Black Lives Matter, as a Jewish resident of Vallejo who has been marching, understand that our fates are tied together. Make no mistake that this vandalism was the work of cowardly white supremacists pushing back from the shadows, attempting to intimidate us because they themselves are frightened by the manifestation of power that Black, brown people and Jews of all hues express when they march together in unity.”
He added: “Although it is a dreadful act meant to frighten, it’s also a pretty solid indication that we are on the right path if these are the sorts of the people issuing objections.”
Liora Rez, director of the Stop Anti-Semitism.org watchdog, said in a statement to the Journal, “This vile bigotry cannot be tolerated nor allowed to fall under the false flag of free speech. Those responsible must be arrested and charged with a hate crime.”
Blue Rock Springs Park is known for its hiking trails and peacocks; it is also where the Zodiac Killer killed two people in 1969.
More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.