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Spencerville couple's barn defaced by hate vandals |
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Thursday, 23 October 2008 |
By KAREN CAMPBELL
Staff Writer
SPENCERVILLE — When a Spencerville couple decided to join a campaign to paint barns across the country in support of a presidential candidate, they never dreamt within a month they would repaint twice.
Dan Dardio and Karri Krendl said within two weeks of painting the Barack Obama logo on the side of their barn on State Route 66, it was spray painted with racial epithets.
They repainted it and a week later almost the whole barn, as well as another building on the property, were covered in paint.
They’ve since added extra security measures.
“We thought someone might say something when we painted it,” Dardio said. “We didn’t think they’d go that far. I’m a little surprised and a little disheartened, but we’ll keep putting up the scaffolding and keep repainting it as we need to until the election.
“We don’t expect everyone to agree with out opinion, but destroying signs and property goes beyond what’s acceptable,” he said.
Dardio knows not all Republicans would react the same way, but feels his family is dealing with a fringe group in the party — a fringe group that is against Obama because they are racist.
“That is what it is all about,” Dardio said. “These acts highlight the differences between people.”
A reward offered for leads to the vandals has pointed to youth, he said.
“I hope they can learn to respect others and properly learn to disagree,” Dardio said.
Throughout the area, state and country, Democrats are reporting more problems with vandalism and theft before to this presidential election than in others held recently. Many are pointing to race as the reason.
Auglaize County Democratic Party Chair Steve Walter said in past election years, he typically hears of a small number of yard signs being stolen or vandalized, but this year he has heard complaints of theft and vandalism in nearly every municipality in the county.
“While I can’t say I’m surprised, I am saddened,” Walter said. “It seems that over the last 30 years we have lost the civility in our civil discourse. Any mention of politics now inspires an ‘us against them’ rivalry that one expects to find in a sports rivalry. This election is not the ‘OSU-Michigan’ game, this election is about the very future of our country.
“The truth is that we are one people, one country, and we have real problems that demand real solutions,” he said. “I can only hope that after the election we find a way to live with the unity we need to progress as a nation. And I, for one, look forward to that time.”
During the weekend, several signs were stolen from the Defiance, Cole and Hamilton streets area in Wapakoneta. While several were small signs, one taken Friday night was a 4- by 8-foot sign, as well as two American flags also on display at the location. The items were valued at $250, Democrats of Auglaize County President Judy Walter said.
The Wapakoneta Police Department received an anonymous call from a neighbor that night saying he witnessed three young men in a dark van taking signs from the 300 block of Cole Drive.
The caller told the dispatcher that he was concerned because of media reports that people are “doing bad things to Obama supporters,” according to the report which came in shortly before 11 p.m. Saturday.
Wapakoneta Police Chief Dave Webb said this week that the thefts are typical pre-election behavior.
He said because election falls before to Halloween juveniles seem to get into more mischief, which can lead to the destruction and theft of signs.
“I don’t know what will happen as the election gets closer but at this point it’s no worse than is normal,” Webb said.
Sheriff Al Solomon said his office has not handled any theft or vandalism reports regarding campaign signs in recent weeks.
Auglaize County Central Republican Committee Campaign Chair Tess Elshoff said there have been a few reports of missing John McCain signs although she could not estimate how many.
“I don’t think they’re specifically targeting candidates, but it’s that time of year when kids are bored and looking for something to do,” Elshoff said. “It happens every year regardless of who runs for what. It’s an unfortunate event that kids seem to think is funny.”
Whatever the reason the signs are being taken and vandalized, Judy Walter said she expects the problems to get much worse as the election gets closer.
In Allen County earlier this month, a supporter’s sign was doused with oil and gasoline and set on fire. Another sign was ran over by someone driving over private property. Broken glass bottles turned up in a horse pasture. The owner of the property considers the acts hate crimes. |
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 28 October 2008 )
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