Bellingham mayor denounces symbols of hate downtown
Vandals painted bright green Nazi swastikas at Waypoint Park near Bellingham’s iconic Acid Ball over the weekend, the latest incident of hate speech reported in the past several months.
Crews from the city’s Public Works and Parks and Recreation departments removed the white supremacist symbols from the sidewalks shortly after they were reported Sunday morning, Nov. 6, city spokeswoman Janice Keller told The Bellingham Herald.
Mayor Seth Fleetwood condemned the most recent hated-related vandalism, which followed incidents last summer at a downtown business and a few weeks ago at Western Washington University.
“These statements have no place in our city, where we welcome and respect all people,” Fleetwood told The Herald in an email Sunday.
Nazi Germany, using an ancient religious symbol called the swastika as its emblem, systematically murdered 6 million Jews and 11 million others in World War II, including gay men, disabled people, Roma, political opponents, ethnic Poles and Soviet citizens.
It remains the world’s most recognized symbol of hate and white supremacy.
In his statement, Fleetwood noted that antisemitic incidents are increasing across the U.S. and the world.
“We are not alone in dealing with an increase in antisemitic messages and vandalism, as we are seeing more instances of it locally and nationally. This is all the more reason to remove it swiftly and loudly proclaim that these hateful actions are unacceptable,” Fleetwood said.
“The moment this came to the city’s attention we sent crews to clean it,” he said.
Nationally, the celebrated rapper Ye and Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irvings have faced intense criticism for recent antisemitic statements.
It’s not the first time that swastikas have been used to terrorize Bellingham residents.
Swastika stickers with the warning “We are everywhere” were placed on businesses in Fairhaven and downtown Bellingham in October 2020.
Many of the targeted businesses were Black-owned or had advertised their support of the social justice movement that followed the murder of George Floyd at the hands of police.
Bellingham Police were investigating the vandalism as a possible hate crime, but never made an arrest.
