Neighbors Clean Up San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo's Home After Being Vandalized During Night Of Jacob Blake Protests
SAN JOSE (KPIX 5) – Neighbors of San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo quickly banded together after his home was vandalized following protests Friday night.
According to witnesses, someone spray painted the front of the mayor's home, which had a Black Lives Matter sign in the window, with phrases that included "BLM," Jacob Blake, along with profanities.
Liccardo said he was away visiting a relative at the time of the incident. The mayor said the vandalism does not detract from his support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
"This isn't First Amendment expression. This is vandalism," Liccardo said after returning home. "It is what it is. And members of my community suffer from crime every day. This is certainly not the worst of the crime."
Liccardo also said he appreciated the late night support from neighbors.
"I'm tremendously heartened by the response of dozens of my neighbors who dropped everything late last night to spend a couple of hours scrubbing graffiti from Jessica's and my home," Liccardo said in a statement Saturday. "Many of these same neighbors' homes bear 'Black Lives Matter' signs and they represent the true spirit of the movement and of our San Jose community," Liccardo said.
The mayor said it would be up to the District Attorney and police to decide whether to prosecute anyone for the vandalism.
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Protests have erupted nationwide after Blake was paralyzed after being shot in the back by officers in Kenosha, Wisconsin earlier this week.
Earlier in the evening, crowds of protesters gathered in Downtown San Jose and peacefully marched through San Pedro Square calling for justice in the Blake shooting, the Breonna Taylor case and an end to police violence nationally.