Baltimore NAACP responds after brick thrown through office window
BALTIMORE -- The Baltimore branch of the NAACP said it will not be deterred from advocacy after its office in North Baltimore was allegedly attacked Tuesday.
NAACP members said that shortly after a virtual meeting Tuesday evening someone threw a bottle against one of the building's glass windows. Afterwards, a piece of concrete was thrown through the front door window, according to members.
Branch President Rev. Kobi Little was at his desk at the time of the attack. Branch members said that nobody was harmed, but video of the incident showed four perpetrators carrying out an attack that "was deliberate and targeted."
"The attack was certainly targeted and intentionally targeted at the NAACP," Little said.
The North Baltimore branch of the NAACP said in a statement that its members did not know if the incident was in retaliation to its advocacy efforts, an act of hate, an attempt to sabotage the organization's work, or simply an act of youthful mischief.
"What we do know and what we want to make clear is that the NAACP will not be deterred in our advocacy," the statement said. "We will not let disruptors sabotage our work. We will not be discouraged by hate. We will not bow to intimidation and bullying."
Little said the act of violence would not impact the resolve of NAACP members.
"If this was designed to deter us, we respond by saying we are determined," Little said. "If this was designed to intimidate us, we respond by saying that we shall not be moved."
The ethnicity of the perpetrators has not been determined, the branch said. Baltimore Police officers responded and filed a report.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, or NAACP, is a civil rights group formed in 1909.
"Vandalism of any kind is troubling, especially when it's directed at an institution like the NAACP," said Toni Draper, CEO of AFRO News. "Hopefully it was not retaliation for their advocacy or the important civil rights work that it continues to do. We are glad no one was injured and hope the perpetrator (s) are caught soon. Thankfully, the work of the NAACP is not defined by a building."
