Concord
In an act apparently committed overnight, amid tensions following a white nationalist rally last weekend in Virginia, a suspect broke a back window of the Concord headquarters and spray-painted the graffiti on a secluded face at the back of the property, according to Concord Police Lt. Sean Ford.
Officers were called to the 10 Water St. scene just after 9 a.m.
“We’re certainly looking for any help we could get from the public to get an idea of who might have done this,” Ford said.
Patrick Hynes, a senior adviser for the Republican Party, said workers arrived in the morning and immediately saw the graffiti after parking their cars. They checked the inside of the building, but it didn’t appear as though anyone tried to gain entry, he said.
“I think it’s safe to say that the staff was concerned,” he said. “Obviously, it’s an unpleasant thing for anybody to experience.”
Hynes said there are security cameras at the front of the building, but not in the back.
“Going forward,” he added, “there will be cameras in the back.”
Ford said his department will investigate whether the act should be prosecuted as a hate crime.
“When you start doing that stuff, that’s extreme,” Ford said.
Hynes said he wouldn’t speculate on the motives of the vandalism, but he didn’t think it qualified as a hate crime.
“I see it as politically motivated vandalism,” he said, noting that he hoped to see denunciations from across the political spectrum.
The state’s Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley issued an email statement condemning the act.
“Vandalism is unacceptable, it’s inexcusable and it’s wrong. The New Hampshire Democratic Party wholly condemns this criminal action and hopes the perpetrator is held accountable. There is no place for that in our politics,” he said.