The swastika painted on the Mount Hebron High School stadium field over the weekend is not the first hate bias incident reported at the school.
In 2005, “on Jan. 14 and 19, there were two drawings on a bathroom wall that were anti-Jewish ? racial symbols,” said Rufus Clanzy, administrator of the Howard County Office of Human Rights, which tracks and combats hate crime and bias incidents through an anti-hate bias task force and panel.
Clanzy said the 2005 incidents were “inactive,” which means police have exhausted all leads. County police submit reports to the human rights office.
Between 11 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. Saturday, vandals struck the school.
In addition to the blue swastika, the vandals used 1-gallon paint cans to break 16 rear windows at the school, at 9440 Route 99 in Ellicott City. They dug two holes in the stadium and put a pole and sign from the baseball field in those holes.
Spokeswoman Sherry Llewellyn said police do not have any suspects.
These cases often involve juveniles who do not understand the seriousness of their actions, she said, but “I?m not drawing that conclusion in this case; it?s too early to speculate.”
David Bruzga, a secondary administrative director for the school system, said: “When you deal with vandalism, it?s troubling, but when it?s a symbol of that nature, it makes it even more troubling.”
“We are deeply saddened whenever anything like this occurs ? and I would hope that the majority of Howard County doesn?t subscribe to that kind of behavior,” said Natalie Woodson, education committee chairwoman of the Howard County branch of the NAACP.
The difference between crime and bias incident
» A hate crime is targeted toward people based on their color, ethnicity, religion, disability or sexual orientation.
» A hate bias incident is not targeted toward a particular person, but involves invoking fear in the same way as a hate crime.
? Source: Howard County
Police Department
