NorthwestOctober 13, 2020

Robert Mittendorf Of The Bellingham Herald TNS

BELLINGHAM, Wash. — Bellingham Police say several swastika stickers with the warning “We are everywhere” were placed on businesses in Fairhaven and downtown Bellingham last weekend. They are investigating it as a possible hate crime.

Stickers with the Nazi emblem were reported early Saturday, Oct. 10, by the managers of several businesses, including Acme Ice Cream and Village Books.

Also targeted were businesses including Northwest Yoga and Brandywine Kitchen, according to social media and other reports.

“A swastika is a symbol of people perpetuating violence against other people,” Mayor Seth Fleetwood told the Bellingham Herald in an email.

Use of a swastika is one of two acts of terror cited in Washington state’s hate crime legislation.

“It has no place in a civilized society. Here in Bellingham, we condemn it entirely. This appalling display of hate and intolerance does not reflect the values of our community,” Fleetwood said.

Rabbi Joshua Samuels of Temple Beth Israel in Bellingham told the Herald in an interview that he learned of the incident early Saturday, which is the Jewish Sabbath.

“It breaks my heart,” he said, adding that hate speech has been increasing with the current political climate.

“They’ve been emboldened to do this over the past several years and I think we all know why,” Samuels said. “It’s horrible to see that kind of hate in this world.”

Samuels said that much of his mother’s side of the family didn’t survive Nazi rule, and his family tree shows many black dots with the word “murdered” written next to them.

More than 6 million Jews were murdered in Nazi Germany’s extermination camps and by death squads from 1941-1945. Another 11 million political opponents, disabled people, gay men, Roma, Slavs, communists and others were murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators during World War II.

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“It is personal, as it is for many of us in the Jewish community,” Samuels said.

Police Chief David Doll called it a “terrible display of hate” and said his officers are investigating.

“We encourage people to report them, or any information they have about them, by calling 911,” Doll told the Herald in an email.

“We ask that people not try to remove them, but rather let us remove them, as they may have value as evidence in our investigation,” Doll said.

Miri Cypers, director of the Anti-Defamation League office in Seattle, said it was a “disturbing” incident.

“Our Center on Extremism reviewed the flyers and has not seen this kind of activity elsewhere in Washington or other places in the country. They have seen individuals brag about the distribution online but thus far, we can’t find a specific group they are associated with,” Cypers said.

Lauren Sommers, manager at Village Books in Fairhaven, said Samuels called the store about 11 a.m. Saturday to let her know about the swastika sticker.

“There is nothing veiled about the message and intent behind a swastika, and as a Jewish employee of Village Books and Paper Dreams, seeing those images on the building at my place of work is extremely troubling and frightening to me,” Sommers said in an email to the Herald from co-owner Paul Hanson.

Hanson said he and his partners Kelly Evert and Sarah Hutton condemn such acts of hate.

“Although Village Books supports freedom of speech, this was clearly intended to threaten and intimidate. Hate speech such as this does not have a place in our store, in our community, or in the world,” Hanson said.

He said he was providing the store’s security camera footage of the incident to Bellingham Police.

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