Someone used spray paint to scrawl pro-Palestinian graffiti on the outer walls at city hall last week.
The graffiti on the south side of the historic brick Showers Building that houses city hall was reported the morning of March 27 and had happened overnight. On March 26, people supporting both sides of the war in Gaza gathered in Indiana University‘s Dunn Meadow for a protest.
Police are reviewing security camera video to try to identify who defaced city hall. Three phrases were painted on the building: “Indiana tax $$$funds Gaza genocide,” “Free Palestine” and “Let Gaza Live.”
The graffiti was removed the morning of March 27.
At its April 3 meeting, the city council is expected to consider a resolution sponsored by members Isabel Piedmont-Smith and Dave Rollo calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza war and increased aid to people living there.
Resolution 2024-08 is titled: “A Resolution Calling for a Cessation of Hostilities and for Delivery of Humanitarian Aid to Civilians in Gaza.”
Mayor Kerry Thomson said she is unlikely to support any resolution that doesn’t directly relate to city business.
Thomson said council members can propose and pass resolutions that express views regarding matters they don’t control, but that “as a matter of principle, I will not be signing any resolutions that do not directly impact the business of our city.”
During the March 26 Gaza protest, Babak Seradjeh, the mayor’s husband, carried a pole with a large American flag attached. When asked how that might be perceived by residents, deputy mayor Gretchen Knapp responded that “the mayor is fully focused on the business of Bloomington.”
Contact H-T reporter Laura Lane at llane@heraldt.com or 812-318-5967