Portsmouth, NH residents shaken after swastikas painted on temples and businesses
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. – Police in Portsmouth, New Hampshire are searching for a vandal accused of spray painting swastikas at temples and businesses with hateful messages.
The vandalism has left the normally quiet town shaken.
Most of the places hit Tuesday morning from 2:30-3:30 a.m. A masked man wielding a can of red spray paint left swastikas at roughly 10 places, including the Temple Israel.
"That was over the top for me. And it brought back images to me of Nazi Germany," Kaya Stern-Kaufman said.
Police quickly figured out a pattern. The suspect targeted places either frequented or owned by Jewish, Black, or gay people.
"I always thought my business is right downtown. It's safe. My staff is safe. So for me, it was another level of aggression," Joanna Kelley said.
Kelley owns Cup of Jo, one of the few Black-owned shops downtown. Some frightened employees kept a hammer nearby on Tuesday, afraid the vandal might return.
Kelley also is the assistant mayor of Portsmouth.
"Thing is they think because it's a majority white area, that it's an easy foothold for them, that people are going to buy into their narrative and their hate," she said.
The spray painter also hit a tattoo parlor that displays a rainbow flag out front. That's where surveillance video was captured and shared with police.
Police Chief Mark Newport's city has had previous visits from the white supremacist group NSC-131. He said residents won't tolerate these acts of hate.
"I think people are disgusted by it, they're not going to stand for it. I think it's going to build the resiliency in our community. We're going to come together," Newport said.
While those targeted hope the suspect doesn't get any publicity, they also feel it's critical to call them out -- loudly. And they say the response of their neighbors here has been nothing short of spectacular.
"What we see is that these small acts of hate have actually provoked love and compassion in the greater Portsmouth community," Stern-Kaufman said.
Investigators have not linked this to NSC-131. They said the first step is to identify the spray-painter.
They're asking for anyone downtown with relevant surveillance video to come forward.
