Red swastikas painted on trees prompts plan for first in-person event since start of pandemic in Edmonds, WA

A number of red swastikas were painted on trees in Southwest County Park, a well-known area of natural beauty in Edmonds, Washington.

Investigators said that they do not yet know if it was a teenage prank or something more serious, but following the discovery, Edmonds Mayor Mike Nelson said: “We need to make sure we’re not just silent about it.”

He said: “There’s nothing ‘childlike’ about promoting white supremacy. There’s nothing childlike about promoting messages of hate.”

As well as asking schools to spend more time teaching about the dangers of antisemitism, Mr Nelson said that he is proposing an in-person town hall event aimed at tackling hate, which would be the first such in-person event since the start of the pandemic. 

He also suggested installing night-vision cameras “in parks around town,” to catch perpetrators of hate crimes.

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