Mural defacement video should raise community concern
The report this week of a leaked video from a white nationalist group reveals a benefit to local police investigating the October defacement of a mural in Boyertown, but its origins in the group’s database should concern everyone who lives and works in Berks and Montgomery counties.
Data leaked from the white nationalist group Patriot Front was published by a nonprofit news site, Unicorn Riot, and showed video of several individuals defacing a Boyertown “No Place for Hate” mural in October on a downtown building alongside Rita’s Water Ice at the corner of North Franklin Street and East Philadelphia Avenue.
The mural was spray painted in an act of vandalism, and a reward has been offered for information. In the days after the destruction, the Boyertown community raised $18,000 to repair it and held a rally to declare unified support for the mural’s “No Place for Hate” message.
The Boyertown area has been beset in the past with allegations of racism and presence of white-hooded Ku Klux Klan members, but it has also worked to become the first school community in Pennsylvania to seek out and achieve “No Place for Hate” designation by the Anti-Defamation League. The school district has repeated the certification every year.
The leaked Patriot Front information referenced by the Unicorn Riot site highlights a nationwide campaign to deface murals and monuments and contains videos and photos of rallies and training. The information makes appeals by Patriot Front to boost morale and contributions among its members.
Among the data uncovered and released by Unicorn Riot is a video taken during the defacement of the Boyertown mural, according to reporting by Mercury staff writer Evan Brandt. The video shows what seems to be three perpetrators plus the person holding the camera, all wearing masks, dark baseball hats and one is wearing blue rubber gloves. They sprayed black paint over part of the collection of diverse individuals shown in the mural’s parade, and white paint on another section to serve as a base for a Patriot Front stencil. They can be heard on the video warning when cars are approaching and saying “good enough” as they finish. Another voice says “excellent.”
When police arrived at the scene on Oct. 6, they discovered that security cameras at the site had been spraypainted, presumably to ensure the vandals were not recorded committing the act. But the vandals then shot their own video of the crime, which was later leaked outside their organization, Brandt reported.
Eastern Berks Police Chief Barry Leatherman said he is hopeful the video will help move the investigation forward. He invited people to view the video for any clues about the identity of the vandals and urged anyone with information to contact his department at 610-369-3050 or Crime Alert Berks at 1-877373-9913.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups around the country, Patriot Front was “formed in the aftermath of the deadly ‘Unite the Right’ rally in Charlottesville, Va., of Aug. 12, 2017. The organization broke off from Vanguard America (VA), a neo-Nazi group that participated in the chaotic demonstration,” according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
According to the leaked data examined by Unicorn Riot journalists, “actions that help meet the official member requirements sometimes include spray painting official Patriot Front stencils on public or private property, painting over racial justice murals, as well as stealing, defacing or destroying prodiversity yard signs and flags from homes and businesses,” Brandt reported.
This brazen recording of criminals defacing a community’s proud stand for diversity is a harsh reminder of the reality of white supremacy and racial hatred in our midst. We cannot be complacent.
The crime demands justice, which we hope will be accomplished by police using the video to identify the perpetrators. Its witness to hate also demands awareness and vigilance from every one of us.
We must work to ensure that this destruction of spirit does not seep into our towns, that our communities are places of unity, and that our future is a clear picture of a place where hate is no more.