Bellingham police station, mayor’s home reportedly targeted with vandalism in protests
A group of protesters reportedly caused an estimated $2,500 worth of damage to the Bellingham Police Department on Friday night and also damaged property and spread garbage on the lawn at Mayor Seth Fleetwood’s home in the South Hill neighborhood.
“It is a shameful invasion of privacy and I hope it does not have a chilling effect on people’s willingness to run for public office,” Fleetwood told The Bellingham Herald in an emailed statement. “These actions are not representative of the Bellingham I know and serve and do not reflect our community’s shared values.
“These are acts of intimidation by a very small number of people. Only by working together can we solve complex and challenging problems. This small group wishes to promote unrest and instability, not contribute to solutions.”
Bellingham Police are working to identify suspects and develop probable cause to arrest those responsible, Lt. Claudia Murphy told The Herald in an email, adding that Friday’s incidents were the most recent in a string of protests that have caused damage stretching back to last summer.
Approximately 15 to 20 protesters showed up at the Grand Avenue police station between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. Feb. 26, walked to the front doors and immediately began throwing eggs at the windows and walls near the main entrance, Murphy reported. Others reportedly spray-painted statements and offensive language on the building’s walls, while one of the protesters picked up an unknown object and threw it at one of the windows, creating two holes.
The graffiti and eggs cost approximately $500 to clean up, according to Murphy, while the window replacement was estimated to be $2,000.
At some other point Friday night — the damage was discovered Saturday morning — protesters showed up at the mayor’s house and put graffiti on the fence and road outside, Murphy reported, adding that a “large amount” of garbage also was intentionally dumped on the grass outside the home. The garbage consisted mostly of takeout food containers, condiments, empty cigarette packs and a “huge pile” of clothing.
Fleetwood told The Herald that “[Expletive] Seth” also was painted on his lawn.
“The general message of the graffiti was regarding homelessness, but none of what was done has anything to do with homelessness, or the development of a plan to make things better, it was just criminal behavior,” Murphy wrote.
Friday’s protest at the police station was just the most recent to cause damage to the facility, according to Murphy. While many of protests outside the station have remained peaceful, with protesters making their point in the lot outside the building and leaving without causing damage, Murphy said Friday’s was the fourth involving criminal activity outside the station:
▪ On June 27, $500 worth of graffiti damage was done to the facility.
▪ On July 25, $900 worth of damage was done to the facility, including graffiti, spitting on keypads and burning the department’s U.S. flag.
▪ On Feb. 20, $500 worth of graffiti damage was done to the facility. Protesters also burned a flag that they brought with them. Approximately 50 people showed up at the station in this incident.
Murphy said the estimates do not include damage to other city and county buildings on the same day as protesters damaged the police station.
This story was originally published March 2, 2021 at 2:06 PM.
