Police are investigating after a Democratic Party office in New Hampshire was vandalized with antisemitic graffiti and posters.
Swastikas and slurs were found spraypainted on the windows and walls of the the Belknap County Democratic Committee building in Laconia on Wednesday morning, and posters with antisemitic messages were glued to the windows.
Johnna Davis, chair of the Belknap County Democratic Committee, said she believes the vandalism happened because the committee recently expressed support for the Jewish community during Israel’s war with Hamas.
New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Ray Buckley issued a statement saying the party is “outraged and horrified,” and calling the rise in hate crimes in New Hampshire “alarming and unacceptable.”
“We stand in unwavering solidarity with the Jewish community and all those targeted by these abhorrent acts. We will not be intimidated or deterred in our fight against bigotry,” Buckley said.
New Hampshire Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan issued statements of their own on social media condemning the vandalism.
“The rise in antisemitism in our state and across the world is horrifying,” Shaheen said. “My thoughts are with those in Laconia and New Hampshire’s Jewish community. This hatred and bigotry is unacceptable. We must continue to condemn it strongly whenever and wherever we see it.”
“The latest antisemitic and racist vandalism in Laconia is horrific and unacceptable,” Hassan added. “Acts of hatred have no place in New Hampshire and it’s critical we all come together to unequivocally denounce this graffiti. We must stand united against bigotry in our communities.”
New Hampshire Reps. Annie Kuster and Chris Pappas also issued statements.
“There is no place for hate or bigotry in our communities,” Kuster said. “The antisemitic, white nationalist attack on the Belknap County Democratic Committee headquarters is deeply upsetting and abhorrent. I stand with our Jewish friends, neighbors, and loved ones and condemn these hateful attacks on the Jewish community.”
“I’m thinking of all my friends in Laconia tonight,” Pappas said Wednesday. “This antisemitic vandalism is part of a surge in hateful attacks on the Jewish community across the country. There is simply no place for bigotry and hate in our society, and we must speak with one voice to condemn it.
Police said those responsible will face elevated criminal mischief charges because of the antisemitic messages. The attorney general’s office released a statement saying it is aware of the incident, and that hate crimes have no place in New Hampshire.