Vancouver MLA office defaced with anti-Semitic symbol
Posted September 30, 2021 8:22 pm.
Last Updated September 30, 2021 8:23 pm.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — Calling it disturbing and not coincidental, a Vancouver MLA has seen his office defaced with anti-Semitic imagery.
Spencer Chandra Herbert, representing the West End, says he was forced to clean a swastika off Thursday morning after someone spray-painted his front window with the hate symbol overnight.
He says he believes this was an act against his active promotion of Truth and Reconciliation Day.
“[To] wake up this morning to find out that somebody spray-painted a huge red swastika on my window at my community office in the West End [is] pretty disturbing,” he says.
Today I was reminded again that the work to stop hate, and build a better world is 24/7. Thank you to all those who stand up, who speak out, and those who work behind the scenes against racism, anti-semitism, and homophobia. Thank you to those standing for Indigenous Justice. pic.twitter.com/7TTGKPA0dX
— Spencer Chandra Herbert (@SChandraHerbert) September 30, 2021
However, he says this hateful graffiti is a symbolic reminder and a teachable moment because “hate is here today. It’s not just something from the past.”
“We must confront racism today, every day,” he says.
As Herbert scrubbed the symbol off his window, he tells NEWS 1130 it felt good, adding, “[We will] not let the haters win. We have to stand against them.”
“You can’t get to reconcile, you can’t get to togetherness unless you face the truth. And the truth is our country has been horrific to Indigenous people for far too long. And we have to face that. Likewise, we can’t fight homophobia or sexism or racism, without facing out to the truth that these are systems of power that people use to try and gain an advantage over other people through fear, through violence. And today [the vandals] tried to spread fear and trying to get us to stop in our fight for justice, and we won’t do it,” he said. “We will continue to work. We will continue to build and to face up to these hard truths.”
Chandra Herbert says he has informed Vancouver Police about the vandalism.
