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Benches in Englewood Park defaced with racist, homophobic graffiti

(Saphara Harrell/Salem Reporter)

Several benches in Englewood Park were defaced with racist and homophobic graffiti, neighborhood residents reported Wednesday.

Lynn Takata, co-chair of Northeast Neighbors, said she discovered the graffiti Wednesday morning while walking in the park. She and other residents reported it to city staff.

Photos taken by Takata showed two park benches spray painted with a swastika, “KKK,” a homophobic slur and “we kill” followed by a racist slur referring to Black people.

“It’s just outrageous,” Takata said. “I was just walking through the park and it’s very peaceful here.”

The park is adjacent to Englewood Elementary School.

City spokesman Trevor Smith said park maintenance workers were cleaning up the graffiti Wednesday afternoon.

“Unfortunately, graffiti is an almost daily occurrence throughout Salem’s Park system but we are unaware of any other locations that have been defaced with this type of language,” Smith said in an email. “The City of Salem is committed to creating a respectful, accountable, proactive, and inclusive community where all are welcome and condemns messages of racism and white supremacy.”

The Salem Police Department as of Wednesday afternoon hadn’t receive a report from a resident about the graffiti.

“We definitely investigate these incidents, but it is very important for residents to call in and make a report,” spokeswoman Angie Hedrick said in an email. “If someone saw the hate speech graffiti or knows something about the incident, we ask them to please call in.”

Regarding whether Salem police have seen similar incidents recently, Hedrick said there have been no reports of hate crime graffiti in the last month.

Any graffiti containing hate speech or symbols should be immediately reported to the Salem police non-emergency line at 503-588-6123. “Doing so allows us to do an investigation, develop any investigative leads, and have it removed,” she said.

Other types of graffiti in the city can be reported by phone at 503-371-4264 or email at [email protected].

This story was updated with a response from the Salem Police Department.

-Rachel Alexander