Three swastikas found on driveway in Lakewood | Local News
Three swastikas were found on Belle Avenue in Lakewood Aug. 16, according to an incident report, news release and multiple witnesses.
Lakewood resident Joshua McLaughlin posted a photo on Facebook of two spray-painted swastikas on a neighbor’s driveway at 1246 Belle Ave., which he said he saw while on a run around 6 a.m. He said the homeowners called the police, who are investigating it.
According to a Lakewood police news release, police also are investigating a broken window on the victim’s car that occurred the night of Aug. 14-15.
A third swastika was found on the street in front of 1257 Belle Ave. in a follow-up investigation, according to the news release.
“I was very pissed, I mean not only for what it represents, but you know, it’s just ridiculous that you would see that anywhere now, especially with what happened last weekend with Charlottesville,” McLaughlin said.
Lakewood City Councilman Thomas Bullock said he heard about the vandalism on Facebook and emailed an image of it to the police, the mayor’s office and the building department.
“This is very rare,” Bullock said, citing one past swastika incident at a Lakewood apartment building several years ago, which he said was perpetrated by a mentally ill person.
“This today is much worse because you know, the only inference any reasonable person draws is a direct result of (President Donald) Trump and the (Charlottesville, Va.) racist rallies and Nazi rallies, all that stuff, so it cuts to the core,” Bullock said. “I hope that it’s not evidence of a hardened
hard-right group in Lakewood. Whoever did this badly, badly misjudged the character of Lakewood – we are a welcoming community, diversity is our strength. I have 100 percent confidence that Lakewood will continue in that direction.”
He said the city’s building department is responsible for cleaning up graffiti. Bullock also said police sometimes can find a perpetrator’s fingerprint from the graffiti.
Anita Gray, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League in Cleveland, said she saw photos of the swastikas online. She said although swastika graffiti has occurred in the Cleveland-area previously, white nationalists feel emboldened in the current political climate.
“What’s happening in our country today is permitting a rise of people on the right – a rise of haters, as we just saw in Charlottesville and I do not believe our president handled this situation properly,” Gray said. “We have a history in this country of every president standing up to bigotry and hate, but yesterday for the second time in four days, President Trump did the opposite.”
State Rep. Nicki J. Antonio, D-Lakewood, also posted on Facebook that she visited the victims the morning of Aug. 16 to offer assistance.
“I live on Belle and it is a street with many children, lovely families and much love and much looking out for each other,” Antonio wrote on Facebook. “We will not accept this escalation and use of symbols of hate in our community or our country. We must all say no to this wave of hate and fear that grips our nation right now. Our best response is to get to know our neighbors, and express that hate has no place in our community.”
There are currently no suspects and anyone with information should contact Lakewood police at 216-521-6773.
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